Keith the Cat
by Madame Kiksters
Summary: He would find him again. He wouldn't lose him like he lost Shiro.
1. The McClains Get a Cat

The cat had lived a hard life before being adopted by the McClain family, if his scruffy fur and surly attitude were anything to go by. He was your average tabby cat, typical black markings on grey fur. The only special trait he possessed were his blue-grey eyes. A trait many sought for in pets apparently.

The cat had gone from one home to the next. His previous caregivers had all thrown him out when he refused to give or accept any affection. The trend continued until he was picked up by a man called, Shiro.

He had patiently waited for the cat to warm up to him, and he never touched the feline unless it approached him first. After a time, the cat had warmed up to the human. He stayed with him for what he found were the best three years of his life.

During his seventh year of life, the unimaginable happened to the cat. One day, Shiro was just gone. The cat had hunted for him for a solid year, earning scars for his efforts, but he never found Shiro.

It was after he'd given up, taking a rest on the safety of a wooden porch, that he had another chance at salvation.

"Oh my! Honey, there's a cat on the porch!", a woman quietly whispered. She watched as the skinny tabby cat struggled to breathe and her heart broke into pieces. Her and the rest of her family had always had a fondness for cats.

"There is?", came a whine from inside. Her husband creeped over to the door she was standing behind and peeked at the pitiful sight. The man felt a swell of pity, but he couldn't have a cat in the house. He still remembered when he had an allergy attack as a child from the feline dander.

He turned his gaze to his wife and found her staring at him. "No. Absolutely not."

"But I didn't even ask you yet." She pouted.

"I know exactly what that look means."

"Then you might as well make this easier on yourself and let me go out there and get that poor _gatico_."

Her husband gave her a pleading look, when she failed to side with him he sighed and waved a hand in defeat as he went to get his keys.

After he'd disappeared around the corner the woman carefully opened the door. When the cat didn't stir, she removed her coat from the rack by the front door.

She opened the jacket fully before she quietly padded over to the sleeping animal. She dropped the jacket on top of it, used to wrangling her cats for when they had to go to the vet. But the animal didn't stir.

 _That's not a good sign._

She scooped him up and felt her heart plunge into her stomach at how light the cat was.

Her husband appeared, their year-old child in his arms. "Isn't he supposed to, I don't know, struggle or something?"

"Yeah." His wife said slowly as she made sure the cat wasn't already dead, but he was still breathing. "Come on, let's get him to the vet."

Her husband nodded as he put the child in the car and soothed him. "It's okay, Lance. We're just going to help a kitty."

"Kee?" the one-year-old piped up.

His mother could be heard in the front seat, "Yes, like in your book. The kitty says…?" she prompted. Her husband made sure that their child was strapped into his car seat before he shut the door.

"Meow meow." Lance answered happily as his father made his way to the driver seat.

"That's right, Lance. _Miau miau_."

Their drive was filled with the sounds of Lance 'meowing' quietly to himself and singing 'kee goes mee'. It lasted a half hour before Lance drifted off and when his dad checked on him with the rearview mirror, he found him asleep.

The parents were secretly thankful that they hadn't had to tell Lance to stop. It was cute, but too much longer and it was going to grate on their nerves.

They arrived at the local vet and the woman brought the cat inside while her husband drove to the nearest café.

When the cat was coherent enough to realize it was still alive, he took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the kind-smelling woman in front of him. He was bitter that he was still alive and that his suffering was not over, so he tried to let out a weak hiss.

When no sound came out, he heard the woman coo, " _Gatico lamentable._ "

There was a firm grip on the back of his neck before he felt a sharp pinch. The humans kept talking before he was taken into a separate room and given to _another_ stranger. He tried to struggle, but his body was too weak. This reminded him of the time when they'd removed all of his claws. He never _did_ forgive the woman that did that to him. If it had been Shiro, maybe he would have…maybe.

He was reassured several times that it was okay, but it most certainly was _not_ okay. He was tortured with water and strange smelling substances.

What he had done to deserve this? The cat had no idea. With the last of his strength sapped, the cat accepted his fate.

After the water failed to kill him, they moved onto using some large cloths and rubbed his fur in all the _wrong_ directions.

After that, the ritual was seemingly complete. Apparently, he had passed all of their tests. He was rewarded with water and food. After that was done, he was taken back to the kind-smelling woman.

She picked him up and looked into his eyes. He respectfully looked away. He knew he had lost to these humans and was prepared to accept his fate. He was not prepared for his fate to be hugged close to the woman's breast.

 _What do you think you are doing?_ "Mee…"

"You are coming home with me." The woman promised.

The cat was brought home, much to the husband's disappointment. But the man conceded that the feline was too old and damaged to be adopted, and would probably be euthanized as soon as it arrived at a shelter.

So, they took the cat into their home. They'd tried to tell Lance that the cat's name was Kitty, but the child only seemed to manage "Kee." The mother knelt close to her child and used the information in those parenting magazines to help her child say the word correctly.

"No, Lance. Kit-ty." She demonstrated that she put her tongue on the roof of her mouth to make the right sound.

Lance looked at his mother's face and her mouth as he mimicked her mouth's movements.

"Keeth." He tried.

That being the closest he'd ever come, his mother praised him endlessly for his progress. And so, the McClains adopted a surly cat named, Keith.


	2. Can He?

Keith could move around in short bursts of energy before nightfall. The parents brought Lance with them into their bedroom to sleep for the night. Keith followed them in, not wanting to stray too far from the kind-smelling woman.

"This is where I draw the line, get him out of here." The husband demanded as he scuttled to the far side of the room to get away from the cat.

Knowing she had asked for a lot from her husband already, Lance's mom relented and picked Keith up gently. He struggled a little and made displeased noises the entire time.

"Sorry, _gatico._ You can't follow me in here." She apologized as she set the cat down. Keith looked up at her pitifully. It had taken a _lot_ of his strength to even follow her in there in the first place.

 _Is this another test?_ "Mrow?" Keith meowed questioningly.

The woman stood up and quickly backed into her room. Keith took a moment to steel himself before he stood. By the time he'd taken two steps forward, the door was closed.

What had just happened? Was she going to disappear like Shiro?

 _Don't go!_ "Mow!" _Don't leave me alone!_ "Mrow!"

 _Please... not again._ "meow."

He waited an eternity before he heard the handle turn. Keith looked up and watched as the human spawn's face appeared. The big blue eyes widening when they saw Keith.

"Keeth."

Keith tried to use the opening to go into the room and be with the kind-smelling woman, but her child hurriedly exited the room and shut the door.

Keith grumbled his displeasure and backed away from Lance.

 _Have you come here to torture me? Make me leave this nice place? Don't even try to touch me, or else._ "Mrrrrrow."

Lance giggled before he lost his balance and fell to the ground, he quickly settled for crawling. He wasn't good enough at walking yet to do so for more than a few seconds.

"Keeth, meow. Meow."

 _I'm afraid I don't understand your dialect._ "Hmm?"

"Meow, meow. Keeth, meow meow."

 _You're saying the same thing over and over. I still don't understand._

"Meow, meow. Keeth, meow."

Was the child trying to communicate with him? Keith tested his theory as he replied, "Meow?"

Lance giggled in delight. "Meow!"

The bedroom door opened and the kind-smelling woman's face appeared.

"Lance what are you doing down here?" Lance's mother asked as she scooped up her child.

Lance looked down and pointed at Keith. "Keeth, meow."

Was this his purpose for being here? If he taught this child the ancient feline ways, would he be accepted into this family? Or was he supposed to just obey the human spawn? That seemed more likely. Looking up at the child, Keith meowed.

The woman chuckled and set Lance down. "Are you teaching Lance how to be a cat?"

Keith meowed nonsensically (to him) in response.

"Such a good boy. Lance, you have to teach Keith how to be human now. It's only fair."

"Far!" Lance mimicked happily.

"That's right."

Lance's mother, knowing that her child would continue to leave the room to play with the new cat until he fell asleep, went into her room and grabbed her pillow and a blanket. She returned and set up a spot on the sofa.

She laid down and watched as Lance crawled around the cat. The child didn't touch him, which she was surprised about. At Lance's age, she was a menace to all felines. Constantly grabbing at them and pulling on their tails when they tried to escape. She blushed at her actions even though they were only because she didn't know any better.

The question she had, was why Lance wasn't behaving like that? Because that was a completely normal response. Being only one, she didn't expect an exact answer, but she figured Lance might be able to understand enough to try.

"Do you like Keith, Lance?"

The child turned to his mother and beamed as he nodded dramatically.

"Why don't you pet Keith?"

"No!" was the immediate response.

"Why not?" she tried again.

"No!" Lance was starting to get upset, so she backtracked and changed the subject.

"Would you mind if _I_ pet Keith?" she tried.

Lance looked down at the cat and watched his face. Keith lie on the ground, relaxed now that the child wasn't constantly crawling around him.

"Keeth?" Lance began. "Meow?"

The cat looked at Lance a moment before letting out a meow of his own.

Lance nodded, "Ye." He permitted his mother to pet Keith.

The woman reached out hesitantly before she gave the cat a few quick pets. The cat accepted them without tensing. She stared at Lance for a long moment. _Were they communicating?_

…

She snorted to herself. There was no way.


	3. He Can

After a few weeks had passed, boy and cat were inseparable. If only because Lance refused to leave Keith alone. The child followed him everywhere, constantly meowing. Keith would sometimes meow back, but it was usually a one-sided discussion.

Lance's parents thought it was a little worrying, at first. But as the weeks turned into months and Lance was still learning English at a rapid pace, they found the entire situation cute. They filmed his "conversations" with Keith for future Lance as proof of his actions.

Little did they know; their child was beginning to understand another language.

" _Okay kid, the first thing you want to do to jump up high places, is hunker down."_ The cat instructed as he began to demonstrate what he meant.

"Meow." Lance replied as he followed the cat's actions, his immature body made repeating the action awkward.

 _"_ _All right. Now you want to gauge how high up it is and prepare your muscles for the jump."_ Keith continued as he wiggled his body and looked up at the chair.

Lance giggled at the cat's actions. Keith shot him a glare before he jumped onto the chair gracefully and stared down at the child.

 _"_ _If you think you're so great, why don't you try it?"_

Lance stopped giggling and looked up at the cat, he stood and climbed onto the chair.

" _No. No. You have to jump, you're not always going to be able to climb."_ Keith hissed as he smacked Lance's face with his clawless paws. He spoke from experience.

Lance grumbled and whined as he clambered down again. He began to cry in distress at not being able to be next to Keith.

 _"_ _What's the matter, can't jump?"_

Lance quieted down as he nodded with watery eyes.

" _Oh."_ The cat looked down at the child without condescension before he hopped down.

 _"_ _Well, I suppose we start with the basics."_

Lance's mother heard several loud thumps before she decided to investigate the sounds. She found her son, as usual, playing with the cat. Except this time something was different.

She watched her child begin to do a weird dance. He would swing his arms back and forth while he crouched and stood again. It almost looked like he was trying to jump.

Finally chancing it, Lance took a loud, large step forward before he turned to look at the cat. Keith's tail flicked in annoyance before he meowed. Lance sat down in frustration and began to whine; his mother took a few steps from her hidden watchpoint before Keith huffed and approached the child.

The cat purred loudly as he rubbed his body along Lance's back until the child quieted.

"Keeth." Was Lance's quiet response.

The cat replied with a soft meow.

Lance's mother felt her heart melt at the sight.

Lance's father stayed away from the cat, being allergic he didn't want to chance an attack. He couldn't remember much of his childhood other than that he used to love cats. His family had owned two of them and most of his memories included one of the felines' presence at any given time.

The details were a little fuzzy, but he was suddenly told that he had become allergic to cats so they'd had to go.

Whenever he would see a cat, he'd get incredibly excited, only to have his mother pull him away while screaming at the animal, calling it a demon and such. She'd always scolded him harshly for trying to talk to cats even though he was allergic.

Had he been trying to talk to them?

Lance's father couldn't remember doing anything other than meowing at them. Why would his mother say, 'talk to them', though?

With a mental shrug, Lance's father pushed the memories from his mind.

When Lance was almost two, he began to have more feline qualities to his movements. His footsteps were no longer unsure stomps, instead they were careful steps. He also began to hiss when he would fight with his cousins who came to visit and tried to touch Keith without his permission.

Another thing was that he would have full conversations with Keith, who would respond as if he understood. Lance's parents no longer paid it any mind. It was just a part of their lives. They were sure Lance would grow out of it.

Keith was allowed outside in order to do his business, they didn't let Lance out there because they didn't want him copying _that_ particular action. Still, it was one of the few times that he was able to escape Lance's constant presence. He didn't mind the child too much anymore, but it was sometimes overwhelming to have his constant admiration.

Lance was a fast learner and was almost able to fully communicate with him. The child was the only one Keith could talk with. After so long without anyone to listen to him, Keith found he had a lot to say.

He told the child about his life up to this point. He was sure that Lance didn't fully understand him, but apparently, he'd picked up on Keith's sour mood enough to comfort him. That had been the first time Lance had pet him. But, it wasn't the last.

After that, he'd constantly find himself receiving affection from Lance. Keith wasn't too proud to admit that it felt nice.

The first time tragedy struck, Lance had just celebrated his second birthday. The entire family was invited. Lance's modest home was going to be filled with people of all ages. When the first person appeared, Keith made himself scarce by hiding under the couch. He'd learned long ago that strange children would target him for their torturous plans. Lance had a lot of cousins, so he figured he'd stay hidden so that the boy wouldn't try to fight them all.

He realized his mistake when Lance followed him under there.

 _"_ _What are you doing here? This is my space so go get your own!"_

 _"_ _What doing?"_

Keith had no shame as he admitted, _"Hiding!"_

 _"_ _Why?"_

"Lance, what are you doing?" the child's mother asked as she noticed Lance's feet sticking out from his hiding place.

"Hiding." He answered.

"Hiding? Is there a monster?"

Lance turned back to Keith, _"Is monster?"_

 _"_ _Worse, there's intruders."_

 _"_ _Intruders?"_

"What are you two meowing about?" Lance's mother asked jokingly.

"Intruders." Was the muffled reply. Though the word sounded clunky in his mouth, it was clear what he'd said.

"Where did you hear that word, Lance?" his mother asked. She didn't know where her son could have heard that. Her and her husband had no time to watch television except after Lance fell asleep. Was he secretly watching it?

"Keith." Lance's mother took a step back at her child's reply.

Feeling a little freaked out, she left with a distant, "That's nice, honey." She went to find her husband to talk to him about the incident to see if something similar had happened with Lance before.

Lance's father was talking with his mother, trying to keep her from noticing the cat they had in the house, when his wife approached him. He flashed her a bright smile before he noticed her expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Wrong? There's nothing. Just have a question for you." She paused, "Has Lance said anything weird about the cat?"

"Other than meowing at him all the time… no, not really."

"Meowing?"

Lance's parents turned to face their child's paternal grandmother, the blood had drained from her face and she was clutching at her chest. She began to rant about demons trying to steal children's souls as she marched into the house.

Lance's father managed to stop her from causing a scene before he brought Lance to her and displayed that he was fine.

" _Abuelita_!" Lance called happily when he saw his grandmother. He remembered that she would always spoil him with treats when she visited, but he never really spoke to her. His mother told him to call her _abeulita_ and had practiced saying the word many times with him, so he was excited to try out the new word.

She began to coo at him in Spanish, but when he just watched her in confusion, the parents explained that they wanted him to focus on learning English so that he could have an easier time in school.

"Ah, my little Lance. You've gotten so big!" was the grandmother's reply as she switched languages and seemingly forgot about the cat in the house, Lance's parents breathed a sigh of relief.

Lance played with his grandmother for a little while until his slightly older cousins came. He happily toddled off to go play with them, he was often left behind and ignored because of his young age, but it didn't feel any different than it had with Keith so he didn't mind too much. Some of his cousins avoided him entirely because they thought he was weird from earlier fights when he'd hiss at them.

Later on, Lance was acting increasingly grouchier so his parents let him have a nap in the relative peace of their room.

Keith watched as the child was carried off to his parents' room and tried to scurry in after them so he could hide with Lance. When he was shut out again, he scampered back under the couch to resume his hiding until everyone left.

He was watching the various feet as they moved about the house when he noticed one pair heading towards him. He tensed to flee, but a bowl with a few pieces of meat on it was slid under the couch to him. Giving it a few cautious sniffs, Keith began to scarf down the meal.

Lance woke up before an hour had passed, the sounds from outside enticing him to join the party. He exited his parents' room and went to check on Keith, remembering that the cat had tried to go into the room when he'd been put in the room to nap.

He crawled under the couch and found Keith breathing weirdly and trying to move.

"Keith?"

The cat cracked open his grey-blue eyes struggling to speak, " _Lance… I don't feel good."_

Feeling scared, Lance grabbed Keith and dragged him out from under the couch. He carried the enormous cat to his mother, knowing that his father didn't like Keith.

"Mama! Keith!"

Something in her child's tone, had the mother instantly panicked. "What is it, Lance?" She knelt on the ground and inspected the cat dangling in her son's arms. Keith was struggling to breathe. Alarmed, she grabbed Keith from Lance's arms.

She called out to her husband that Keith had been poisoned and that he needed to check and make sure it wasn't something Lance could get into. Then, she grabbed the keys and jogged to the family car.

Her husband had called the vet before she'd arrived to let him know about the situation, allowing Keith to be admitted as soon as he arrived.

The vet asked her a lot of questions that she had no answers for. He finally admitted that the only treatment he could offer at this point was to induce vomiting. He also explained that even doing this, Keith could still die.

Feeling shaken, Lance's mother accepted the treatment. With a nod, the veterinarian set to work.

Keith opened his eyes slowly. His throat felt like he hadn't had anything to drink in days and had spent the previous night meowing constantly. When his vision cleared, he found he was in that same horrible place that had tortured him before he was brought to the McClains' home.

What had he done now?

"Keith?" the cat looked up and found Lance's mother staring at him with anticipation.

He made a soft noise in his throat and struggled to get up, but was instead picked up carefully and hugged to the woman's breast.

Keith couldn't see anything other than the woman's hair as he felt her nose press into his neck, when she spoke, it disturbed the fur where her lips were close to him, "Good boy."


	4. The Final Lesson

Keith was weak for a few days after his near-death experience. Lance's paternal grandmother was watched carefully any time she came to visit. Keith was kept locked inside of the parents' bathroom during her time at their house.

She would show up every day for a few hours, doing Keith didn't know what, with Lance before she left. A week had passed before she seemed satisfied with Lance's behavior and stopped her frequent visits.

Lance was always jittery after she left. There were never any marks, so Lance's parents never interfered with the little talks the grandmother and Lance would have.

It wasn't until Lance began to avoid Keith that they knew something was wrong.

"Lance?" his mother began.

"Yes, mama?" Lance responded as he flipped through a picture book his grandmother had gotten him. It had some small, simple words on the bottom to make it a story, but Lance didn't know how to read the black squiggles.

"What did you and _abuelita_ talk about when she was here?" She didn't expect an answer. She always asked, but Lance would always tell her that it was supposed to be a secret.

Lance turned back to her with his face scrunched up in a dirty look, "I _told_ you, it's a secret mama." He turned back to his book, " _Abuelita_ made me promise. She said she'd get rid of Keith if I told."

He turned a page before he put his head down, "I don't want Keith to go away." He confessed quietly.

"Lance." His mother placed her hand on Lance's shoulder. "What if I promised not to tell _abuelita_ that you told me?"

Lance paused before he sat up with a nod. He wiped away the tears that were beginning to fill his eyes. "She said. _Abuelita_ said that… normal cats don't talk and that normal boys can't talk to cats. She said… _abuelita_ said that if we could talk to each other we must be evil. Like the devil."

He turned around with renewed tears spilling over before he sobbed, "I don't want to be like the devil!"

Lance's mother felt her heart break at the sight of her child crying as well as a surge of righteous fury only a mother whose child was hurt could fathom. "Lance." She snapped firmly. " _You_ are _not_ like the devil. And neither is Keith." She gathered her son in her arms. "You are a very special boy with a very special cat. You. Are. Not. Evil. Do you understand me?"

Lance nodded as he calmed down in his mother's warm embrace. He rested his head on her shoulder as she tightened her grip.

"You don't listen to _abuelita_ if she tells you these things anymore, okay? I want you to come to me if she starts saying those things to you again."

Lance hiccupped, "Yes, mama."

Lance was still a little wary of interacting with Keith after his mother's reassurances. He'd always look around before he meowed at Keith or even reached down to pet him. Like he expected his grandmother to pop around the corner and cast him and his cat into the pits of hell.

 _"_ _What's the matter, Lance?"_ Keith asked one day after he realized Lance was being skittish. At first, he'd thought that Lance was just being protective of him, but it was clear something had happened while he was trapped in the humans' bathing room.

Lance didn't look at Keith as he answered, too busy looking around him everywhere as Keith sat on his lap contentedly purring as his back was rubbed. _"I'm looking for my_ abuelita _. She doesn't like it when we talk."_

 _"_ _Your what?"_ Keith asked as he perked up at the strange word. Lance had slipped into the human tongue so the word was nonsensical to the cat.

 _"_ _My…"_ Lance searched for a good translation in the cat language. He hadn't heard it from Keith. As a matter of fact, he hadn't learned how to say anything about family from the cat. _"I don't know the word."_

Lance paused. _"The old-one-who-does-not-like-you. She doesn't like it when we talk. She said she'd hurt you if I told our secret. And I told my kind-smelling one."_

Ah… secrets. So, Lance had told his mother about this secret and now he was worried about the consequences. Keith looked up at the child and rubbed his head against Lance's chin to get his attention.

When Lance looked down Keith began, _"Lance, I will be fine. There's no need for you to worry. You are a child. Live a child's simple life."_ Keith stared into Lance's eyes the entire time to convey how serious he was.

After a long moment, Lance nodded and closed his eyes. Keith sniffed his face before he turned and resumed laying in Lance's lap.

After that, Lance had slowly returned to his simplistic childish happiness. His days consisted, once again, of playing with Keith and learning from both the cat and his parents about how to conduct himself.

Keith taught him about how to be a cat while his parents taught him how to be a boy.

Time passed and Lance's third birthday passed. No drama occurred and Keith was, once again, locked in the bathroom for the duration of the event.

Lance now had his own room furnished with the various gifts he'd received from his family that year. His aunts and uncles from his mother's side had gotten him cute cat plushies and pajamas as well as cat coloring books and bedsheets. His father's side presented him with space-themed curtains and coloring books, along with a fish-themed comforter and some clothes.

The wall was painted blue at Lance's request and space themed glow in the dark stickers were added to his ceiling.

All in all, it was a rather eclectic room but Lance loved it anyway. The main reason being that Keith could share the bed with him and was no longer left alone in the house.

It was a few months later that tragedy struck once again…

Keith was home alone, he'd been left inside because the family was going out foraging for food. They did this often so Keith didn't feel like he had too much to worry about. The first few times he had been nearly inconsolable after the few hours spent alone, wondering if the family would return.

He heard someone approach the back window and went to investigate. Finding it odd that he hadn't heard the metal monster pull into the driveway… and that the family didn't go to the door.

The cat found the window responsible for the strange noises and immediately recognized something was wrong. He didn't know who that person was and, quite frankly, the black mask covering their face freaked him out.

Panicked he fled to Lance's room under the bed.

He heard the window finally open and then shut before the heavy sounds of booted feet meandering around the house. Keith listened from his hiding spot as the intruder went from room to room searching for something.

Keith assumed he found it in Lance's parents room because he heard a metal door open and shut. There was a frustrated growl that had Keith's fur standing on end.

As scared as he was, Keith fervently hoped that Lance and his family didn't return while this intruder was here. The stranger seemed incredibly dangerous and Keith didn't want to lose anyone important to him… not even Lance's dad.

Keith heard some odd noises and papers being shifted around before a single scratch was heard. The sound of the metal door closing was followed shortly by the sound of the window opening and shutting again.

Keith peeked out after a while in order to make sure that the intruder was gone. He had taken two steps out of Lance's room before he smelled something that instinctively told him to escape.

 _"_ _Smoke."_

He ran to the window to try and escape, but it was firmly sealed shut. He searched all of the openings to the outside world before he approached the front door. He could smell the outside world from the sliver of an opening. It was _so_ close, and yet he couldn't escape.

The smell was getting stronger and the house was beginning to heat up. Panicking, Keith began to cry out for help. For _Lance_.

But no one heard him. And no one came to help.

Lance was drifting off in the backseat on the way home. He was excited to show Keith the blue mouse he had convinced his mother to get for him at the store.

His father's angry swearing brought his attention to the front seat. He found his mother with her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes and his father looking forward in horror.

Lance looked out the front window as much as he could and found a dark black cloud in front of them.

Lance's father hit the gas as they tried to process that their _house_ was on _fire._

They parked on the other side of the street to watch as their home continued to burn. Lance's father called for help and gave them the address while Lance's mother held her child in her arms.

That was when Lance heard it. Quiet. Exhausted.

 _"_ _Help… please. Lance… I-"_

It was silence again.

"Keith!" Lance called panicked.

" _A dios mía!"_ His mother exclaimed.

Lance father passed the phone to his wife before he ran to the house. He heard it right by the front door, a pitiful meow.

Steeling himself, Lance's father tried the handle. It scorched his hand. Cursing, he used his shirt to test the door handle, it was unlocked. With a gasp of pain, he turned the handle and shoved the door open. The fire lashed out at him and caused him to fall back on his rear.

He looked down and found Keith laying on the ground struggling to breathe as the smoke flowed angrily out of the house.

He crawled forward and shielded his face from the sparks as he gripped Keith's scruff. He dragged the cat outside and onto the grass before he picked the feline up and ran to the safety of his car.

"Keith!" Lance called in despair at seeing the soot covered cat, his fur singed everywhere.

Lance's parents argued about the best course of action as Lance's father felt his arms burning. Either from the contact with the allergen or from the cinders that had fallen on him, he didn't know.

They finally agreed to leave Lance's father there for when the fire department arrived while his mother put Lance in his booster seat. She passed Keith over to her child with instructions to hold him carefully before she kissed her husband and climbed into the driver's seat.

They were halfway to the veterinarian's office when Keith spoke.

 _"_ _Lance?"_ It took the cat's breath away to try and speak.

 _"_ _Keith! It's okay, Keith. We're taking you to get help."_

It took him a while to gather enough air to answer, _"I think… this is the end."_

" _Keith, you're scaring me. You're going to get help."_

Keith ignored him, feeling his life slipping away with each insufficient breath of oxygen.

 _"_ _I have…one…last…thing…to teach you."_ Lance began to cry quietly as he waited for Keith to finish, _"The final…lesson…of death."_

 _"_ _No! Keith!"_ Lance returned to English in his panic. "No death! I don't want to learn about death!"

Keith felt his heart heavy with regret. He had been young too when he'd learned of loss and grief. He didn't want Lance to be miserable. He held on with everything he had. He fought death furiously as he struggled not to fall under the pull of the final sleep.

Without his permission, his eyes began to cloud over. Lance's face became blurry before it faded to white. He heard no sounds, he felt nothing, he saw nothing.

He was nothing.

Lance watched as Keith's pupils dilated before he ceased breathing. His mother stopped the car and turned around to check on them before she got out and brought them inside of the vet's office.

She found her son clutching Keith's body as he sobbed. She'd heard quiet meowing during their journey and had thought that Keith was going to make. Apparently, she was wrong.

And that was the end of the McClains' surly cat named, Keith.


	5. Keith

Keith woke up in a cold sweat. The lingering feeling of dying followed him into the waking world.

 _"_ _No! Keith!"_ Those were the words he understood, the rest were kind of a garbled mess as his dream-self faded away.

The young man shook his head to clear the lingering memories. He stood with a groan as his joints popped. He walked past the only picture he had of his parents. When he was sixteen, his parents had both died in a "tragic accident" as the news reported it. It was no accident. Some drunk fuck had decided he was fine enough to drive and had swerved onto the sidewalk where his parents had been walking to their car.

With a sigh, Keith forced his tense muscles to relax.

After two years of isolation, he thought he should be used to the silence. He'd taken up residence in an old shack in the middle of the desert. No one around. No drunk drivers out here.

Keith gripped his hair as he pushed the thoughts from his mind. The guy responsible was already dead. So, there was no one to take the blame. Just… three people dead. And one bitter son left alone. For no _reason_. What was the point of him even _being_ here?

 _Stop._

With an angry grunt, Keith threw off his clothes and turned on the shower. He allowed himself a luxurious shower, for once, and kept the water running as he quickly scrubbed away at his body. When he was done, he turned off the water and stepped out to dry off with a towel.

Those dreams always made him get like this. It was like he couldn't focus on anything other than the dream itself and his parents' deaths.

Without his permission, the dream's events played back in quick snatches. It was from the perspective of a cat. He'd experienced loss and death over and over from the cat's point of view and each time he woke up with a need to find that boy.

He never gave into it. But, when he was five, he'd woken from a dream and panicked as he ran from his bed all the way to his front door crying out "Lance". His parents had told him that story when he was thirteen, and it just stuck with him.

"Lance." The sound of his voice in the deafening silence startled him. He looked up and saw his haggard form. His long, dark hair was stuck to the back of his neck, and his blue-grey eyes stared back at him dully. His pale skin, even though he lived in the desert, made him appear sickly. Most likely from the fact that he rarely ventured outside.

He slung the towel over the shower curtain rod to dry before he walked to his bedroom for a change of clothes.

He pulled on a loose shirt, underwear, and some jean pants that didn't smell too badly. He stepped out into his living room and saw the lonely sofa sitting in front of a coffee table. His last meal, a juice pouch and an empty can of some processed food, sat finished.

Keith looked into his barren kitchen, and felt the silence overwhelm him.

"Aahhh!"

His scream echoed around him, and then it was silent again. That oppressive, lonely silence.

He sank down on the sofa and clutched at the sides of his head. The only thing that seemed to whisper words of comfort in his ear was the name, _Lance_. Over and over.

Lance. Lance. _Lance. Lance._ **Lance. Lance.** ** _Lance!_**

Keith abruptly stood up and marched into his room. He tugged some socks over his feet and shoved his feet into his boots. He grabbed his motorcycle keys, wallet, and phone on his way out.

He stomped over to the small shed attached to his house and pushed his motorcycle out into the desert. He pulled his helmet over his head and swung his leg over the seat.

 _What was he doing?_ His doubts plagued him.

He was finding relief. Relief from his dreams. From this silence. From his loneliness.

With that, his motorcycle revved to life and he was off.

He'd been searching for weeks. He could vaguely remember what the neighborhood looked like. He couldn't rely on the house being the same, if his dreams were to be believed, the house had burned. The thought occurred to him to track the name Lance and scout out areas that the name was found in, but there were a shit ton more Lances than he'd have thought possible.

He'd even resorted to asking if anyone had seen someone named Lance and asked if they had the same dark skin, brown hair, and blue eyes that _his_ Lance had.

Keith snorted. _His Lance_ indeed.

He rode his bike everywhere, it seemed, and still he couldn't find Lance. At night, Keith found himself in cheap motel rooms on creaky, old beds or uncomfortable sofas if he stayed in a questionable place. As he tried to fall asleep, he admitted to himself that finding Lance gave him something that he thought he'd lost long ago. A reason to exist.

He had his first big break when he found what he remembered to be Shiro's house. Obviously, Shiro was nowhere around, but it was a start. He thought about how far a cat could travel and figured it couldn't have been more than he could cover in a few hours on his bike.

He had been wrong. Terribly. Horribly. Wrong. Sweat made the hair free from his helmet cling to his neck. His hands were turning red from prolonged exposure to the sun. He'd been pushing himself for hours to try and find something familiar to him and yet nothing scratched at his mind. The houses were eerily similar and a few times he'd been excited that he'd found Lance's house, only to find that it was occupied by a family that bore no resemblance to the people he'd known.

It wasn't fair. _Fair._ Keith scoffed. He'd known life wasn't fair for a long time now. No, this was more than just unfair. This was ridiculous.

Here he was. Searching for someone he'd seen in a _dream_. A dream about him as a _cat_ , no less.

He pulled the motorcycle over and kicked the stand out to balance it. He ripped off his helmet and angrily hung it on one of the handles. He paced for a time, berating himself while simultaneously bargaining for more time searching.

He finally resigned himself as one of the most foolish humans to have ever existed as he leaned against the tall wooden fence behind him. He slid down and sat in the grass, sulking.

"Meow?"

Keith's eyes snapped over to find a large, blue grey cat. Her eyes molten gold as she stepped over to him cautiously. Keith remained frozen for a moment before he tentatively reached out a hand. He didn't try to force it on the cat, just extended a piece of his body so that the feline could investigate him.

She had just leaned forward close enough to sniff his hand, when a door closed loudly behind them.

"Hey, Blue. What're ya doing over here?"

A tall man appeared on the other side of the fence as he leaned down and scooped up the cat. He scratched at the cat's chin before he looked down and found Keith sitting there. His blue eyes widened.

"Oh, shit!" Lance took a quick step back before he recovered with a smile, "You scared me there. I hope you're not hurt. Ya know, just sitting there against my fence. It's a little weird but. You do you, I guess." The man chuckled nervously.

Keith couldn't believe it. This man looked strikingly similar to the child from his dreams. The blue eyes that sparkled with life, the tan skin, and the fluffy, brown hair. There was no way.

"Lance?"

The young man startled, "How did you know my name?"

"Lance?" Keith had nothing else to say. "You're Lance." Keith smiled victoriously. "Lance!"

"Alright, buddy! You're _really_ starting to creep me out. And I have a high tolerance for creepiness."

Keith laughed as he shook his head and stood. "I wasn't sure I'd find you. But, it's me. Keith!" He'd went by that since he was young, apparently. His parents told him that when he began to speak, they would tell him that his name was Kyung-gu and he would defiantly yell that he was Keith. Eventually his parents gave in and called him Keith.

Lance looked lost. "I…don't know…any…Keiths?"

"No, I'm…" Keith thought about how ridiculous it would sound if he told Lance about his dreams. "I'm from out of town!" He finished. "I moved here recently and got a little lost." Keith looked away to hide his lies, "I heard there was someone my age here and… wanted to see."

Willing to accept the answer, Lance smiled again. "Oh, jeez. You really had me going there! I thought you were some kind of weirdo." Lance laughed.

Keith laughed stiffly. "Y-yeah. So… I'm gonna just. Go now."

"Oh, well… Okay. I'll… see you around?" Lance asked hopefully.

"Uh…yeah. Sure. I'll come visit you some time."

"I look forward to it… Keith." Lance said his name like he was trying to see how it felt in his mouth.

He hadn't had as much practice as Keith at saying the other stranger's name. As was evident when Keith confidently spoke, "Goodbye, Lance." It rolled off of his tongue like they were old friends. In a way, they were.

He looked at the cat cradled in Lance's arms and felt a surge of jealousy. There was also the strangest longing to be held in the same manner, but Keith shoved it aside. He wasn't a cat anymore. Those thoughts were inappropriate.

With a wave farewell, Keith climbed back on his motorcycle and took off down the street. He searched the neighborhood but couldn't find a single motel. He looked up the hill from Lance's neighborhood and found a densely wooded forest.

He could make this work.


	6. Keith's Reason

Lance could not get that stranger's name out of his head. It just kept ringing.

 _Keith_.

He wondered why the name seemed so familiar. He spent every moment he wasn't actively doing something, thinking about it. His showers were used to try and place where he'd heard the name before. When he was lying in his bed trying to will himself to sleep, he'd find his thoughts plagued by the stranger's name and face. Trying to unlock some hidden memory he must have had.

He was carrying his baby sister home from a playdate at her friend's house, his other two younger sisters trailing behind him talking about things like fashion and music. Which was strange for him to hear from a six and eight-year-old. But Lance chalked it up to the change in time.

Being twenty-one now, he had no idea where he was going with his life. He was content to stick with his parents and take care of his siblings. He had a part-time job at the veterinarian's office he took Blue to, but that wasn't enough for him to live alone on.

"Who's that?" Lance heard from behind him.

He looked back and found his six-year-old sister, Lisa, pointing down the street in front of them. When he turned to investigate further, he found Keith approaching them. His posture was slumped and his hands were shoved into his pockets. His hair was a mess and Lance was pretty sure that he was wearing the same clothes he'd first seen him in.

"Hey!" Lance called cheerfully. He hugged his baby sister, Katherine, closer to him and stepped in front of his other two sisters. "How's it going, Keith?"

Keith waved at him before he quickened his pace. "It's going?" Was the awkward answer as he neared the group of siblings. "Who's this?"

Lance's sisters clutched the back of his pants. Wary of this strange man with his haggard appearance. "Keith, these are my sisters. Kathi," He gestured to his baby sister in his arms, "and hiding behind me are Lisa and Fran."

"I'm not hiding!" Fran cried, scandalized.

Lance laughed at her expense. Keith gave a soft smiled of his own that Lance almost missed.

"So, where are you heading?" Lance asked as he shifted the baby in his arms when she fussed.

"Uh, nowhere. I was just going for a walk." Lance could detect the underlying message of ' _looking for you'_ , but he didn't comment on it.

"You, uh… want to go back to my place and hang out? I mean, there'd be a sh-" his blue eyes flicked to his little sisters and censored himself, "a lot of people there already so…it's fine if you don't want to." Lance shuffled his feet awkwardly.

Keith flailed his arms around as he answered, "No! No! It's fine." He settled his arms at his sides, "I'd lov…" Keith's face flushed a little, " _like_ to come over and hang."

"Sweet!" Lance cheered as his sisters giggled from behind him. "Alright, everyone! Let's go!" At his command, he led his small entourage back home.

When the group arrived, the two sisters ran inside to their room. Lance shook his head in exasperation before he turned to Keith. "I'm just going to go tell my mom that we're back. You can hang in my room for now."

Keith nodded and walked down the hallway Lance had indicated. His mother was helping his younger brother with homework at the kitchen table when he found her.

"Hey, mama." Lance greeted, "We're back."

"Oh, Lance. Can you help us, please? We've been looking at this problem for _ages_ and the way the teachers want Andre to solve it just doesn't make any sense."

Lance figured that fifth grader homework couldn't be too hard as he approached. He leaned over his younger brother and mother's shoulder to inspect the problem. It was a multiplication problem. The examples on the worksheet above indicated there was this weird method of finding the product.

It looked like it involved circles and strange grids that Lance couldn't decipher. He looked at his brother and mother's eyes and found desperation.

"Why not just solve it the old way?" He asked. Lance's mother clapped a hand over her face with a sigh as Andre began to pout.

"No! I have to learn how to do it _this_ way!"

"I have been trying to get him to solve this problem for ages and that's all he says." Lance's mother explained.

Lance looked back down at the homework with a sigh, resigning himself to learning this new style of multiplication. He plopped into a chair across from his mother at the head of the table where Andre was sitting. He looked out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house and found Keith standing just outside of the kitchen awkwardly.

"Oh, mom. I brought a friend over." He wasn't really a friend, per say, but he seemed friendly enough. "His name's, Keith."

His mother snapped up to look at him. "O-oh. That's nice, dear." She recovered. "When did you two meet?"

"Oh, it was a while ago." A week. "We, uh, really hit it off. We kind of crossed paths on my way back with the girls and I invited him over." Lance paused. "Is…that okay?"

"Yes. Of course, _Lancito_. I'm glad you're finding people your own age to hang out with."

" _Mooom_!" Lance complained, feeling his face heat up because of Keith's presence. "Keith, get in here and quit being a creeper."

"I… didn't want to interrupt." Keith mumbled as he shuffled closer.

"You're fine!" Lance's mother assured him. "I'll let you Lance go hang out with you after we figure out this problem."

"Maybe… I could help?" Keith offered. Lance and his mother immediately pushed the paper closer to where Keith was standing at the table.

"Please." They said in unison.

Keith's eyes widened a fraction before he looked down to hide his smile.

"Oh, I remember having to do this in middle school. It was a new thing so even the teachers had to learn it." Keith explained with a laugh.

Lance, Andre, and their mother watched in silence as Keith explained how to solve the math problem using the process shown above. Andre was paying rapt attention and when Keith finished he smiled brightly.

"Thanks! You're _much_ smarter than Lance!"

"Andre! That was not a nice thing you said to your brother!" Their mom snapped warningly.

Lance felt a little twinge of pain as well as a moment of jealousy. "Well, since he's so smart maybe you can get him to help you with _all_ your homework from now on?"

Andre looked back at him challengingly, "Maybe I will?"

"That's enough, you two! Now I want you to apologize to your brother, Andre." Her younger son glared at her before she narrowed her eyes.

" _Fine!_ " He pouted. "I'm sorry, Lance."

Ever the forgiving big brother, Lance gave a small smile. His hurt soothed. "Alright, you're forgiven… as long as you realize what you said was mean."

"That's right." Their mom interjected. "Everyone's smart in their own way."

Keith stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do and feeling like the entire thing was his fault.

"Keith?" he looked up at Lance's mother as she said his name, "Would it trouble you to come here and help out with Andre's homework? I'm sure with you here he can get it done quickly and then you can spend time with Lance here before you have to go back home."

"Uhh, sure. I don't mind helping you out. As long as you guys don't mind me being here every day?"

"Keith," she looked at him seriously, "if I didn't want you here, I wouldn't have asked."

"Y-yes, ma'am." Lance's mother was terrifying.

She smiled, "Good. Now are you going to be staying for dinner?"

Keith had one of the most fulfilling days he'd had in a long time. He felt like he belonged here with Lance's family already. Any time he would feel himself becoming out of place, one of Lance's family members or Lance himself, would drag him along to involve him in some grand adventure.

He'd been forced to be a photographer for Lisa and Fran. After Andre was done, he would often ask Keith about how his school life had been and why he was so smart. Kathi would gurgle at him from her mother's arms as the woman asked him about where he was staying. Lance's father seemed to be out late tonight, so he didn't get to meet him.

Lance, in particular, seemed to always know when Keith was feeling down. He would swoop in and pull Keith into some ridiculous conversation that often had an argument in the middle somewhere that ended with them smiling.

Keith ate dinner at the McClains' that night, and reluctantly left after he'd helped clean up.

He waved farewell to Lance, who had walked him to the front gate, before he trudged down the sidewalk. He turned back after a minute to make sure Lance had gone inside. He found the McClains' front yard empty before he turned and walked between the houses to go up to the woods behind the neighborhood.

He walked along and found his half-assed set up tent and his meager belongings along with his motorcycle. He'd have to go into town and get some more clothes. Lance had been eyeing him all night and Keith knew that he was looking at his dirty clothes.

With a sigh, he pulled off his boots and lay down on the ground under the tarp he was using as a tent. He turned over on his side and could see the McClains' house through the trees and underbrush. He knew in the back of his mind this was probably creepy… but what was he supposed to do? He'd found him… Lance. Surely there was some big meaning for this.

There had to be a reason that he came back. He wouldn't deny it any longer. He came back for a _reason_. His parents died _for a reason_. He'd suffered alone _for a reason_. Suddenly, Keith knew. _Lance_ was his _reason._


	7. Laundromat Days

**Summary:**

 **Keith does his laundry and sees a familiar face.**

 **Notes:**

 **Sorry about the wait. Life happened. Updates might slow down but, this will be finished. I don't want this to go much further than twenty chapters max, but I thought this was an important chapter to have to set up future events and to explain how Keith has been managing. Also, I shall be including my notes and things from where this was posted elsewhere. To you lovelies on fanfiction . net I hope you enjoy! (Also I forgot that they don't like link names here**

 **-_-)**

 **Chapter 7: Laundromat Days**

Keith didn't mind sleeping outside. After sleeping in a shack in the middle of the desert, it was nice to have the cool earthy ground underneath his sleeping pallet instead of the hot sand that he would sometimes sink into as he walked.

The biggest issue was the bugs, but if he kept himself covered while he slept it wasn't too bad. The next issue was bathing himself. He'd discovered a nearby pond. The water was ice cold whenever he bathed, but he was used to washing himself quickly. The only problem was that he had to pick a time when no one would just… wander off into the woods and find him, but before the bugs started to get too bad.

The last problem, was that he was completely exposed while he slept, so anyone could sneak up on him.

"When is he going to wake up, do you think?"

"Soon if you don't keep your voice down."

Keith's eyes snapped open as he sat up in alarm. He looked around and watched as two cats stood frozen. "Who's there?"

"Easy now, it's just us."

He woke up a bit more and jumped to his feet. He spun around looking for the voice, he didn't see anyone. He heard the cats behind him meow at him again and after another suspicious sweep of the perimeter for intruders, Keith let his attention focus on the felines.

"What d'you want?" He asked tiredly.

The cats looked up at him with their big, yellow eyes and Keith was unnerved by the amount of sentience they seemed to possess. He brushed off the feeling with a joking, "Well, are you going to answer?" he asked with a smile, and the two cats stepped closer tentatively.

Keith stood still as they crept so close to him that he could bend down and touch them easily. The grey one sat elegantly in the dirt while the bulky, yellow tom cat stopped behind her. It was then that Keith recognized her.

"You're Lance's cat."

The cat slowly blinked her eyes, almost as if agreeing with him. Keith wanted to believe it, because that only further proved that his dreams were memories of his past life.

"What are you doing here?" his only response was a long meow that ended with a purr.

Shaking his head, Keith gathered his toothbrush and toothpaste. He headed down to the nearby pond to brush his teeth and rinse his face. He sniffed his clothes and made a face. He decided it was time to wash his laundry.

His teeth cleaned, Keith headed back to his camp to drop off his dental hygiene products and gathered his small pile of laundry. He made his way to his motorcycle and lifted up the seat to store the laundry inside the compartment. The entire time, the two cats had been trailing along behind him, watching him, at first it was unnerving but Keith was slowly getting accustomed to their stares.

He gave them a little salute, "Looks like this is where we part ways for today."

With that, he started his motorcycle and the cats skittered away from the noise. Keith felt a little bad, but it couldn't be helped. He put on his helmet and set off to find a laundromat.

There was one incredibly close, Keith could have walked and gotten there in about an hour if he had wanted to. He parked along the side of the street and set his helmet on the handle before kicking out the stand and shaking his hair to get rid of the weird helmet hair he was sure he had.

He swung his leg over the seat of his motorcycle gracefully so he was standing on the sidewalk and grabbing his laundry from the storage compartment.

"Keith?"

He whipped around, laundry bundled in his arms, and found Lance standing further down the street with a laundry bag in each hand. "Lance?"

The brunet smiled in greeting, "Hey, buddy! How're you doing?" Lance asked as he lugged his bags over to the front of the laundromat where Keith was standing.

Keith watched him struggle before his brow wrinkled with concern. "Do you want some help with that?"

"Nah." Lance puffed. "You look like your hands are full."

Keith looked down at his four sets of clothes and then back at Lance's two bags. He bundled his clothes together and managed to hold them with one arm. He held out a hand, "Here."

"No, really. I got it! I'm used to this."

"Lance." Keith warned before he sighed and just snatched one of the bags out of the other's hand before storming inside.

Lance followed after him at a jog. "It really was fine. I mean, I managed to get them all the way here, the laundromat was like…three feet away from us."

"Then you should have just accepted my help, instead of being difficult." Keith scoffed.

Keith could have sworn he heard Lance mutter, "Drama king." Under his breath, but the comment only made Keith's lips almost twitch into a smile.

Lance pointed him over to a set of three washers that were all side by side waiting to be used. "Just set the bag down there." He then opened up one of his laundry bags and revealed detergent and softener containers resting on top of more clothes.

Keith's eyes widened because… he'd forgotten that he needed to bring his own soap to these places.

Lance noticed his horror, "What's the matter?"

"I forgot to bring soap." Keith confessed dejectedly.

"That's fine, you can use some of mine!" Lance answered cheerily and Keith could have sworn that a beam of light shone on Lance through the window.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Lance waved away the gratitude before he pulled out a sleeve of quarters and Keith felt like the biggest dumbass to ever walk the face of the earth.

His bank card and license felt like they were burning in his back pocket.

"Does this place, uhh, accept cards?"

Lance burst out laughing as he recapped the detergent he had finished pouring. When Keith didn't join him, he looked over and found Keith's miserable expression. Lance smiled softly before he smirked. "Well, I suppose you can throw your laundry in with mine, but just this once. Okay?"

Keith nodded fervently before he tossed his clothes into the washer before Lance closed it and hit the start button on all of them.

Lance turned to Keith when he'd finished. "Wanna go across the street and wait at the local coffee shop?"

Keith's eyes widened. "Uhh, I don't really feel…comfortable leaving my clothes here."

"What? Scared someone's gonna take 'em?"

Keith rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and didn't answer.

Lance sighed, "Look, if someone is going to steal our wet laundry then they probably need them more than we do."

Keith wasn't sure about that, but he allowed himself to be pulled along across the street to the coffee shop. They sat down and ordered coffee as they sat in one of the window seats at Keith's insistence. Lance talked a lot about the town and how he worked at a nearby veterinary clinic. Keith kept finding his eyes drawn to the entrance of the laundromat to make sure that no one suspicious was entering and that no one was leaving with any familiar clothes.

He found himself distracted from his vigil when Lance stopped talking and looked at him meaningfully.

"Pardon?" Keith asked and Lance pouted.

"I asked you if you did your laundry every week or something."

Keith's eyebrows rose in surprise, "No. This is the first time in uhhh…" He didn't want to say a month… but, "About a month."

"A month!" Lance choked on his coffee but waved away Keith's concerns, "But you only had like… a handful of clothes!"

Keith shrugged and took a sip from his coffee.

Lance grabbed his wrist firmly, "Keith… are you…" he looked around before whispering conspiratorially, "In trouble?"

Keith sputtered with laughter. "What? No!" He couldn't help the laughter that spilled past his lips. "That was just all I managed to pack before I…moved."

Lance raised a single brow in disbelief before he shrugged and let go of Keith's wrist. "If you say so." Then he paused as realization struck him. "Wait. You mean to tell me that you don't have anything else?"

Keith nodded and Lance looked like he'd heard one of the most heinous crimes imaginable.

"We're going clothes shopping." Lance announced, Keith opened his mouth but Lance interrupted him with an ordered, "And don't give me any lip."

Keith's mouth snapped shut before he sighed and allowed a tired smile.

Lance's phone went off and he was quick to mute it before it bothered anyone else in the café. "Looks like our laundry's done."

He waved over the waitress and got the bill, Keith slapped his card on top of it and handed it to the waitress himself so that Lance couldn't pay even if he wanted to.

"For the laundry." Keith explained when Lance complained about his actions. "Just this once." He quoted with a smirk.

Lance froze before he laughed heartily. "Alright, you got me on that one, buddy."

They made their way across the street to the laundromat and the pair of them transferred all of the clothes from the three washers to two dryers. They had to cram their things inside in order for them to fit, but that was all that was available.

Lance leaned back after the lint catchers were cleaned and the dryers had all started. "So, yeah. Clothes shopping. I'm gonna ask my mom if we can borrow the car tomorrow and we can get you some clothes."

Keith looked down and nodded. He wasn't used to people being this nice to him. Hell, even during his parents' funeral all he got were some sad looks and some empty apologies before he was left behind to grieve.

"Keith?"

At Lance's voice, Keith found himself dragged from his thoughts. He wasn't quite sure if Lance knew how grateful he was that he had stopped him from spiraling. It was much better than letting himself get worked up before he had to calm down himself.

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

Lance smiled and Keith felt the jagged edges of his emotional wounds soothed.

They continued to talk to each other before the dryers were finished. Keith picked out his clothes and stuffed them into the compartment under the seat of his motorcycle. He turned to Lance. "You want a lift?"

Lance looked at him skeptically. "How are we both gonna fit with my bags?"

Keith patted the seat and helped Lance settle down when he finally relented. Then, he piled the bags on his lap. "Just hold onto these."

Keith took the helmet off of his handle and almost placed it on his head without thinking, before he gently slid the helmet over Lance's head, careful of his ears. Lance looked up at him, but Keith couldn't see his expression through the dark visor on the helmet.

With a satisfied smile, Keith snagged the spare space between Lance's legs covered by the laundry bags, and fired up the engine.

"You might want to hold on to my shoulders or waist if you can." He advised. He waited until he felt Lance's hands grasp his shoulders before he released the kickstand and drove to Lance's house. He performed some of the gentlest driving he had ever done. When he stopped, it barely jostled anything.

It didn't take more than a few minutes and they were back at Lance's place. Keith helped Lance get up from the seat and held the laundry bags until he was firmly on the ground.

Lance took off the helmet and set it on the handle like Keith had it before, and batted his eyelashes dramatically as he looked up at Keith. "I had a great time tonight."

Keith looked up at the sky, "But it's still daytime?"

Lance just laughed, "It was a joke, Keith." When the other kept looking at him in confusion, Lance sighed, "Don't worry about it. Thanks again for the ride and buying my coffee."

Keith looked down shyly, "Well, thank you for letting me do my laundry today and inviting me for coffee."

Lance gave another one of his heaven-sent smiles before he nodded and headed inside with his laundry bags.

Keith took a moment to remain awestruck, then he drove back up the hill and parked before he made his way back to his little camp. Today was a good day.


	8. Movie Marathon

**Summary:**

 **Lance couldn't believe Keith hadn't watched the new Space Buds movie yet. A movie marathon ensues to correct the issue.**

 **Notes:**

 **Hey. I'm back. Finally!**  
 **So, I don't think I can keep updating the different stories every week. So I plan to finish one and then move on. I chose this one because it isn't going to go one for too much longer. So expect this to update until it's finished before I move on. Sorry if you are reading my other stories. But just imagine when I finally get to those stories and console yourself with this fic in the meantime.**  
 **I love you all! See you next chapter.**

 **(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)**

* * *

Chapter 8: Movie Marathon

There was a baby crying, children fighting and screaming over a toy, a television that was turned up loud enough to be heard over all the noise, and a mother trying to calm every one of them down to a tolerable volume. Keith wasn't scared to admit that he was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the noise in the relatively small space of the house.

He followed Lance further inside hesitantly. As soon as André saw him, he perked up and yelled at Keith as he patted the seat next to him. "Keith! Come watch this with me! It's my favorite show!"

Keith had the chance to open his mouth before Lance stepped in front of him, blocking his view of André.

"No, André. He's my friend and I invited him over to spend time with me."

André scoffed before he muttered something under his breath. Lance sighed and continued to his room. Keith offered a wave and a small smile to André, which was returned, as he followed Lance.

"Ah, Lancito! You came home and didn't even say 'hello'?"

Lance winced before he turned to his mother with a bright smile. "Hello, my beautiful, sweet, mother."

His mother sighed, "Such a charmer. Just like your father."

Lance chuckled before giving his mother and baby sister a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Keith felt envious of the close relationship Lance had with his family. He longed to be able to just reach out and hold his mother's hand, one more time, as Lance so easily could.

"And Keith, you're not going to say hello either?"

Keith felt himself break out of his thoughts. "What?" He looked between Lance, his sister, and his mother before her words registered in his mind. "Oh! Yes, of course. Hello, Mrs. McClain. Sorry, didn't mean to be rude."

Lance's mother cooed. "Don't worry about it. Just don't forget next time. Alright?" She asked as she used he free arm to give Keith a hug.

Keith froze for a moment before he melted into the hug and gave her an awkward pat on her arm after a moment. "Thank you for letting me come over."

"Not a problem. I have hoped for a while for Lance to get a friend his own age."

"Mom! Do you have to bring that up every time you get the chance?"

Lance's mother chuckled at her son's complaint. "Of course I do. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't embarrass my son in front of his friend every chance I could get?"

"A nice one." Lance muttered under his breath.

Katherine giggled when their mother pinched her brother's cheek playfully and caused his features to stretch comically. Keith couldn't stop the smile that crept onto his face at the scene.

"Can we go now?" Lance asked. His voice distorted from his cheek being pulled.

His mother released him and patted his slightly reddened cheek gently. "Of course you can, Lancito."

Lance rubbed his cheek as he thanked his mom, grabbed Keith's hand, and fled to the sanctity of his room.

When they got inside, Lance shut the door and sighed dramatically. "Alright. Let's get this movie marathon going."

"Marathon?" Keith asked. "I thought we were just going to watched 'Space Buds 3: So Pluto Is a Planet Again?'"

"Well yeah, but I am pretty sure you haven't seen the first two in a while."

"Well…yeah, but."

"But nothing. I'm running this show, and I say we watch the first two movies and then the third one you haven't seen yet."

Keith sighed in defeat. "Fine."

Lance smirked. "I knew you'd see things my way." He grabbed 'Space Buds?', and 'Space Buds 2: Who Knew There Was So Much Space?' from the small stack of movies in his desk drawer.

"You want popcorn or something?"

Keith shook his head, but his stomach gurgled at the thought of food. He looked down in betrayal at his stomach as he heard Lance laugh.

"Let me see what I can gather. Just water is okay, right?"

Keith nodded, and Lance ducked out the door. The younger boy took the time to appreciate Lance's room. The walls were a dark and vibrant blue. There was a single window that was covered with blinds and thick black curtains. The desk was a simple design and was apparently sturdy enough to house a laptop and a small desk lamp without too much stress. The floor next to the bed was covered by a rug but other than that, the floors were bare wood. The bed was covered by a thick plush comforter that complimented the color scheme. He grabbed the pillow just to see if it was as fluffy as it looked and found it to be incredibly soft. In amazement, Keith pulled the pillow closer and grabbed both ends before tested the softness of the pillow just as the door opened. He froze.

Lance stopped in the doorway, arms full of snacks and a couple water bottles. Blue used the moment to dash into the room. "Uhhh."

"I wasn't…I was just…"

There was a beat before Lance laughed and broke the awkward atmosphere

. "Pretty soft, huh? Don't be jealous. I have two of them, so I'll let you borrow one. Alright?"

Keith just nodded. Too embarrassed to deny anymore than he already had tried.

Lance had brought back a bag of chips, a bag of popcorn, two bowls, and split the water bottles evenly among them. The bed was against the wall and the television was on the opposite side of the room so the two sat sideways on the bed with a fluffy pillow supporting their backs. It was a few moments before Blue hopped up onto the bed and padded between the two of them before settling down. Her purring was clearly audible when Lance ran a hand down her back a few times.

The movies were just as amazing as the first time Keith had watched them. Lance would interject his opinion on something every once in awhile making the movie even funnier than he remembered. They watched the first one before Lance's mother called them for dinner. Which, of course, Keith was welcomed with open arms.

They were almost finished with their meal when Lance's mother asked Keith if he was planning on spending the night. Keith shared a quick look with Lance before nodding his head cautiously. She smiled brightly before returning to eating the rest of her food.

"Are you going to spend time with me now?" André asked from across the table. He'd been watching Keith carefully and trying to copy the way he moved when he ate. Fran and Lisa giggled to each other at André's actions.

"No way, André."

"Laaaaaance!" André whined. "I hate it when you do that!"

"Just imagine if your name was José?" Lance teased.

The younger boy puffed up his cheeks as he pouted. "Mooooom!"

"Don't tease your brother, Lance." She replied in a bored tone as she fed the baby in between bites of her own food.

Lance's dad sat at the head of the table next to Lance's mom and while he was looking down at his food as he ate, it was clear he was still listening to the conversations around the table.

After they finished, Lance and Keith did the dishes, Keith washed while Lance dried and put away, since he knew where everything was. Then they went back to Lance's room to finish their marathon. Since Keith was going to spend the night, Lance offered him some comfier clothes. They were a little big, but they were the softest things Keith had ever felt caress his skin. Err… touch his skin.

Lance offered him a shower, but Keith didn't feel like putting on an already worn pair of briefs. Besides, as soon as he was warm, clean, with soft clothes, and the plushest pillow he'd ever experienced Keith knew he would inevitably fall asleep. No need to take the chance.

When he returned, Lance already had everything set up for the second movie. Keith turned the lights off and ventured cautiously into the room while his eyes adjusted. He bumped into the bed before climbing back into his spot next to Lance, who was chuckling at Keith's temporary blindness.

"It's not funny, Lance. I can't see." Keith turned to give Lance a dirty look, his face was too dark to see without his eyes having adjusted.

The laughing stopped, and Keith squinted as his eyes finally adjusted enough to see the small smile Lance had on his face.

"What?"

"Huh? Nothing." Lance turned back to the television, but he didn't play the movie. Keith was just about to ask what the issue was, but Lance turned back to him before he could. "Keith?" he whispered.

"Yeah?" Keith answered just as quietly.

"Remember when we first met?"

Keith figured he was talking about how he found him lingering outside of his fence. He nodded.

"Well…I thought you were a major creep." Lance confessed.

Keith laughed, he'd suspected that was how Lance felt, but he never expected to be confronted with those feelings.

"Let me finish." Lance whined, and Keith settled down. "Thank you. I thought you were a major creep and the only reason I didn't make too much of a fuss was because Blue seemed to think you were okay." He continued as he rubbed Blue's back fondly.

Keith watched the action patiently. Waiting for Lance to find his words. Which was odd because he seemed to always have something to say.

"Look. I just wanted to say. I'm glad we became friends." Lance finally finished as he focused his attention of petting Blue.

Keith felt his heart skip a beat. He'd never heard such a heartfelt statement, and while it was incredibly awkward, he was in awe of his friend, that he could say something so difficult with so little effort. He didn't know how red Lance's face was as he couldn't bring himself to look up from petting Blue.

"Thanks, Lance. I'm glad you gave me the chance." There, just as honest and heartfelt. Keith looked down at his hands as he picked at the hem of the shirt he was wearing.

There was a moment of silence before Lance cleared his throat and announced in a chipper voice. "Well we better get this marathon started if we plan on finishing it tonight!"

Keith looked at the clock next to Lance's bed. "Lance…it's nine."

"Yeah?"

"These movies are like….two hours long."

"…and?"

"And?" Keith sputtered. "That's a long ass time, Lance!"

"It'll only be…like….hang on." He counted on his fingers to determine the correct time it would be four hours from nine. "One? Yeah. One."

Keith gave him a skeptical look. "You sure you can stay awake that long?"

"Easily."

The third movie was halfway over, and Lance was slumped against the wall snoring lightly. Keith smirked at him before returning his gaze to the movie. He was smiling at one of the main character's jokes when he felt Lance's head lean against his shoulder. He tensed for a moment, expecting Lance to wake up and blame him, but when he didn't stir Keith allowed himself to relax.

He continued to watch the movie with bleary eyes as Lance's warmth and constant deep breaths lulled him further and he struggled to finish the movie.

Blue took that opportunity to curl closer between them to soak in their combined body heat in some kind of human heater.

 _"This is going to be my last mission."_ The television continued playing the movie quietly. The older main character spoke through a screen to the younger.

 _"You can't do that! I thought we were in this together?"_

A chuckle. " _We are. And we always will be. Space Buds for life. But I want to settle down. I don't want to fight anymore. I want to go on a new adventure. One where I can leave something other than destruction behind."_

A sniffle. _"Then let me come too! The universe isn't worth saving if I can't save it with you!"_

 _"Come now."_ The older sighed. _"I'm sure you don't mean that."_

There was silence as the younger pouted.

 _"Hekite."_ The older paused until he had the younger's attention. _"They need a hero."_

 _"Then why are you leaving?"_

 _"They don't need me. In fact, they don't even need you. They just need someone to look up to. We just happened to fill the position."_

 _"Ungrateful fools."_

 _"I'm tired, Hekite. I almost got you killed last mission. I'm slowing down. In this profession? That is as good as dead."_

 _"That was my fault, Jooule! I should have let you handle it. I just got cocky is all."_

 _"It's all right, Hekite. I reached this decision on my own. I figured I owed you an explanation before I left. You mean too much to me for me to just leave you without an explanation."_

 _"It's not fair!"_

"It is what it is."

There was a long silence full of Hekite's sniffling. _"I'm gonna miss you, buddy."_

 _"Me too…me too."_

 _"How am I gonna do this alone?"_

 _"You won't have to. I found someone to replace me."_

 _"Who?"_

Jooule leaned back out of frame and beckoned someone over. With a smile, Jooule introduced a muscular young man with a shock of white hair and a large scar running across his face. _"This is Uhla."_

Startled by the familiar face, Keith stiffened before whispering hoarsely. "Shiro?"

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **So... I know I shouldn't be bringing this up. But I had an original work idea (if you couldn't already guess, it is the Space Buds trilogy). It won't be anything other than an idea until I finish my other works. But I wondered if anyone was interested in it or if I should just write it for me? The opportunity presented itself in this chapter. (I originally was going to have them watch the Lord of the Rings series. But I remembered my thing and thought of a plot development) [Shiro's fate was going to be wrongfully imprisoned and then getting out, but I decided to go a different route]**  
 **Thoughts?**


	9. More Questions Unanswered

**Summary:**

 **Keith and Lance do some research to find out more about Lance's favorite actor, who Keith suspects was the man he knew to be called Shiro.**

 **Notes:**

 **I was adding stuff to this site, because I had forgotten about it again and I was like...wait. Why is there only 8 chapters of Keith the Cat? When I knew I had written another one and was almost done with the 10th. Then it dawned on me that I didn't post it.**

 **I'm gonna go to my corner of shame and work on chapter 10. Sorry everyone orz**

* * *

Chapter 9: More Questions Unanswered

Keith sat up and startled the bed's other two occupants. Blue settled down almost instantly, but Lance fell over with a grunt before sitting up in confusion.

"Wha's a matter? Keith?"

"It…it's nothing, I think I know that man on the television."

Lance made himself look over and focus on the screen. He blinked away enough sleep so that everything wasn't just blurry fuzzballs and found the increasingly famous, Kuro.

With a snort, Lance turned over and situated himself properly on the bed. "Of course you know him. That's Kuro. I'm pretty sure almost everyone knows him."

"Kuro?" Keith shook his head. "No. That's not what I mean. He looks like a man named Shiro that I knew a long time ago."

"Maybe it was just a dream." Lance mutters tiredly.

Keith looked down. Perhaps Lance was right. Maybe he was losing it?

Lance cracked open an eye to find Keith looking dejected. With a sigh he closed his eyes and snuggled further into the bed. "Why don't we look him up on the computer tomorrow?"

Keith smiled to himself. "Thanks, Lance."

"No prob." Then Lance was fast asleep. Keith turned off the television and settled in beside Lance, careful not to get too close, and fell asleep shortly afterward.

It was almost noon when the two of them finally woke up. They shared lunch before they moved to the computer to begin their research on Lance's laptop. Lance sat at the desk going through various websites to see if Kuro had any connections regarding a man named Shiro, or if a source mentioned living in the area. Keith lied on the bed on his stomach reading over Lance's shoulder.

"I just don't get it." Lance complained.

"What?"

"For almost every star's biography, it mentions something about where they grew up. When you look at Kuro's it starts with the first time he was noticed by a talent scout. What's up with that?"

"If only we could just ask him." Keith lamented.

Lance sat back in his chair and rubbed at his chin contemplatively. "Maybe we can." He suggested slowly. He soon leaned forward in his seat and opened several tabs on his computer, each one directed to a different social media site.

"What are you-?"

"Just give me a moment." Lance announced as he typed in Kuro into each of the search bars the websites had. He sifted through the results until he found the account he was after. "Oh yeah! Who's a genius?" he cheered with a fist pump.

"So…what are you doing?"

"I just found a way to contact Kuro so you can ask him the questions you want answered. That's what."

"Lance! That's amazing!"

"Dude…this is just the first step, the hard part is getting him to respond to us." Lance confessed before giving Keith an odd look. "You act like this is the first time you've ever been around social media."

Keith averted his eyes. If he had known about stuff like this, let alone had access to it out in the desert, it would have made his search for Lance a lot easier. He shrugged in answer.

"Keith! What even are you? A Wildman?"

"I-"

"Actually, don't answer that. I'm afraid you'll tell me you're living in the woods or some shit." He joked with a laugh. Keith stiffened before he joined in nervously.

"So…how do we get Kuro to notice us?" Keith asked to bring them back to the topic at hand and steer the conversation away from his living conditions.

"We could just send him a private message, the only problem is if he doesn't check those things. Or worse! He receives so many he can't keep up with them."

Keith hummed as he thought. He twisted on the bed until he was lying on his back staring up at the star stickered ceiling. He saw Lance staring at him out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Oh…it's nothing." Lance quickly answered as he looked back at his computer screen. Keith shrugged mentally as he returned his gaze to the ceiling. He let his eyes drift around the room aimlessly and he found some pictures hanging on the wall of Lance with his family. There wasn't a single picture of Lance as a toddler. He could remember that his mother was a photo fanatic and often took pictures of them, but then he figured they were probably destroyed in the fire.

It would have been so much easier just to show a picture of himself as a cat to Shiro…err…Kuro, and see if he remembered him.

"Do you think it would be better to send an actual letter?" Keith suggested.

"What?"

"If he's getting so many fan letters through his social media sites…maybe we would have better luck sending him a letter."

Lance raised a finger in protest before he dropped his hand back down, "I…can't argue with that. I haven't sent an actual letter in…ever."

"That's what I'm counting on. Does he have a mailing address listed anywhere?"

"I'm not seeing any…oh! Here we go." Lance read out the address and searched it to make sure it looked plausible and wasn't some random person's house. "Do you really want to send him a letter?" Lance asked him seriously.

Keith drifted over to the computer and looked at the various pictures of Shiro…Kuro. In each and every one of them, the man was laughing and smiling. He was apparently married with children and two cats. He stared at them with jealousy. Envious that Shiro got to leave him and find happiness, while he was left behind and lost everything.

With a sigh, he decided Kuro was better off without him. Besides, he was with Lance now. Shiro had left him behind, and he wasn't going to chasing him again. Not when Lance was right here.

"No."

"No?" Lance yelped. "But we just spent the better part of an hour gathering this information."

Keith winced as he looked down in apology.

"Now don't give me the hurt puppy look." Lance complained. Keith looked up at him from under his bangs and Lance sighed. "Fine. I guess I just learned something new about my favorite actor, do it wasn't a complete waste. Though, I now have more questions than when we started."

"Sorry, Lance."

Lance grumbled as he turned to his laptop and shut it down.

They watched the end of the third movie since the two of them didn't finish it. After that, Keith decided to return home.


	10. Surprise!

**Notes:**

 **(See the end of the chapter for notes.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Surprise!**

On the way home from his shift at the veterinarian's office, Lance stopped at the store to pick up a roll of stamps and a box of envelopes wide enough for him to simply use printer paper for what he was about to do.

He'd decided, after Keith had left, that he was going to try and contact Kuro on the off chance that he might know his friend. He'd checked on the computer and found an address to send fan mail to the actor and figured it was worth a shot.

After he'd returned home, dealt with his family, ate and helped clean up dinner, he was ready to write the letter to Kuro…err Shiro.

He tapped the eraser end of his pencil against his chin as he thought about how to start the letter. He would have typed up the letter, but he didn't have a printer at the house. The library was ridiculously far away, and Lance didn't think going all that way to print was worth it.

Lance set the pencil down and scooted his desk chair back before spinning around lazily as he thought out loud.

"Hey Kuro! No, I hate that."

He spun around once more before stopping suddenly. "Greetings Kuro. God, that's worse."

Another rotation. "What would I say to him if I met him in person?"

He stood up from the chair feeling a little dizzy. He imagined his favorite actor standing in front of him before he tried again. "Oh my God! Kuro! I'm, like, your biggest fan! Oh, do you know someone named Keith? He seems to remember you, only your name was Shiro…" Lance scrubbed at his face with a groan and winced when his bangs stabbed his eye.

"Arrgh, why am I so bad at this?" He smacked his cheeks and rubbed them vigorously in the hopes that it would spark an idea.

He sucked in a breath through his nose and turned to the currently blank piece of paper. "Okaaay, okay, okay." He dragged a hand through his hair, causing it to puff up and go everywhere as he let out a deep sigh. "You got this."

With a roll of his shoulders he put the pencil to paper…and waited for the words to flow.

They did not flow.

"This is such bullshit. I can do this!" He glared at the pencil. "For Keith."

He spoke as he wrote to hear the words being written to make sure they sounded right.

"Mr. Kuro, let me first start this letter by saying that I am a huge fan of your work and your acting is always so impressive. I find my eyes unable to look away from the screen whenever you enter the frame…no that last bit's creepy."

He erased the sentence and continued from the one before.

"I really admire how you command attention whenever you are on screen. There, that's better. Okay…umm. I was watching one of your movies, one of the 'Space Buds' movies in particular with a friend of mine and he seemed to know you. He said he thought you looked incredibly similar to a man he used to know by the name of Shiro. We thought it was weird and tried to research your bio to find out if you had changed your name or something. Imagine our surprise when…what the hell? Am I an old lady from the seventies now?"

Lance scoffed as he erased the start of the last sentence. "Imagine our surprise? Jeez. I hope I don't sound like that when Keith's around. He'd probably never let me live it down."

He huffed as he imagined the other boy teasing him. The warm and affectionate smile that would light up his face as he laughed at him.

He let out a dreamy sigh before he shook himself.

"Focus, Lance! Where was I? Oh, yes. We found that your bio doesn't discuss anything from before when you were hired onto your first movie, which I also saw, in case you were wondering…he probably wasn't wondering that." Lance grouched as he erased the sentence at the comma and turned it into a period.

"We sent you something over social media, and my friend was content to let you get around to it whenever you would. He looked so bummed about the whole thing, I decided to try and send you this letter to see if I could reach you this way. If you could just…send us something to let us know if you are this Shiro person my friend remembers, we would be really grateful. Feel free to contact me using the same mailing address, or the other contact information at the bottom."

He wrote down his email address and his phone number on the bottom before he reread the letter to make sure everything was spelled correctly and that it was legible.

Mr. Kuro,

Let me first start this letter by saying that I am a huge fan of your work and your acting is always so impressive. I really admire how you command attention whenever you are on screen.

I was watching one of your movies, one of the 'Space Buds' movies in particular, with a friend of mine and he seemed to know you.

He said he thought you looked incredibly similar to a man he used to know by the name of Shiro. We thought it was weird and tried to research your bio to find out if you had changed your name or something. We found that your bio doesn't discuss anything from before when you were hired onto your first movie.

We sent you something over social media, and my friend was content to let you get around to it whenever you would.

He looked so bummed about the whole thing, I decided to try and send you this letter to see if I could reach you this way.

If you could just send us something to let us know if you are this "Shiro" person my friend remembers, we would be really grateful.

Feel free to contact me using the same mailing address, or the other contact information at the bottom.

Lance waggled his eyebrows as he praised himself. "Perfect, if I do say so myself…and I do say so myself!"

He folded the letter carefully and slipped it inside of the envelope. He sealed it with a lick of the adhesive and pressed a stamp to the corner before he wrote the address he wanted it to go to as well as the return address…his house.

He danced around in his room in a fit of giddiness before he got ready for bed. He knew it was going to be impossible to fall asleep that night, but he tried anyway.

Lance and Keith had spent the next few weeks hanging out at the taller boy's house. He'd officially become one of the family. Katherine and Fran warmed up to Keith enough that Lance had returned home quite a few times to find the other boy's neck wrapped in a ridiculously large, pink boa with his hair done up in one of Fran's large pink bows. Over-done blush that appeared to resemble a circle on each of his cheeks, his eyes smeared with blue eyeshadow that made the iris seem more purple and less blue-gray. He'd even once painted his nails with his sisters, surprisingly he chose a sparkly blue, as he sipped at an empty cup, pinky raised.

Lance always found himself excluded from those tea parties, his sisters hissing at him that boys weren't allowed.

Lance had laughed harder as Keith nodded sagely at the tiny table as he was shoved out of the room.

He'd even borrowed his mom's car and had taken Keith shopping for clothes. That had been quite an experience. He looked perfect in anything he tried on. Lance remembered pouting in disappointment when Keith had exited the changing room to display the ugliest yellow and red polka dotted shirt Lance had spied, and looking stupidly cute.

The worst part? Keith didn't even realize how good he looked. He always waited for Lance's approval before he decided that he did indeed look good in an outfit and add it to the pile. After he'd picked out five shirts, some more pants, and a few pairs of underwear and socks…he hadn't modeled those for Lance, but he had come out blushing after he'd tried on the underwear to make sure they'd fit.

Lance had thought his heart was going to melt from the bashful look.

It was shortly after they'd returned home and went their separate ways when Lance received a reply.

His eyes had bugged out of his head as he squeaked with surprised. He turned it around and began to tear it open before he thought to open it with Keith…but the other had already gone home for the day.

He couldn't live too far since he often walked to his house. Plus, Lance recalled a memory where Keith had confessed mysteriously, when Lance had asked, that he lived nearby.

He ran up the walkway to his house and called inside to his mother that he was going to visit Keith. He waited until he heard her yell back before he ran back to the street and set off in the direction Keith took to go home.

He jogged for a few minutes waiting to see a house he didn't know the occupants of. The perks of living in a small community, Lance supposed.

He slowed when he reached the end of the houses and hadn't found any place Keith could be staying in…unless he was staying with one of the neighbors?

He shook his head as he looked down at the envelope in his hand before sadly shoving it into his pocket.

With a sigh, he steeled his resolve to just wait until the morning before he headed back. Keith really needed to invest in a phone.

He was halfway there when he heard leaves rustling to his left. He turned curiously and found Keith frozen on the trail leading to the forest.

"Keith?"

Lance looked back and found that the other's motorcycle was parked at the top of the hill, semi hidden behind a bush. If Lance didn't know what it looked like, it would have blended with the dark leaves.

"Why are you leaving your motorcycle up in the hedges? You afraid someone's gonna steal it if you park it in the street?"

Keith looked nervous and shifted about. Lance's eyes narrowed at the tell and knew whatever Keith was about to say was going to be a lie.

"Yeah…I couldn't think of anywhere else." The other boy lied with a nervous laugh.

"Well, you could just park it at my place?" Lance offered, partially genuine, but partially testing how far Keith would take his story.

"Oh, that's really nice, but I would hate to take advantage of your family any more than I already have."

"Bullshit!" Lance spat the word. "You're a shit liar, Keith. Now tell the truth. Why is your motorcycle hidden in the hedges? Did you steal it?"

Keith's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What? No!"

"Then tell me. The. Truth!"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Keith growled back as he turned to storm up the trail before he froze and turned around. He started to take a few steps towards Lance before he stopped on the trail again, unsure of where he should go to escape.

"Keith." Lance sighed. "Just tell me what's going on, bud."

Keith watched him, his dark eyes revealing nothing as Lance's blue orbs searched.

"You wouldn't like me anymore if I told you."

"Oh my God. Keith, did you murder someone and steal their bike?" Lance accused in horror.

Keith rolled his eyes as he scoffed. "What is it with you and thinking I'm some kind of hardened criminal?"

"You're not denying it!"

"For fuck's sake, Lance. I didn't steal the bike, and I did not murder someone for it!"

"Then why won't I like you when I find out why you've hidden it up there?"

Keith sighed. "Follow me." He started up the trail and Lance jogged to catch up with him. They took a few more steps before Keith stopped and turned around to face the other. "You gotta promise me that you won't leave me."

"Keith…as long as you didn't murder someone for a bike, or…ya know. In general. I don't see that happening."

Keith inhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose before he exhaled, let go of his face, and continued up the trail once more.

They reached the bike and Keith stood expectantly. Lance looked at him blankly.

"Well? What are you going to show me about the…" He paused as he finally took in the scene of the clearing they were standing on the edge of.

A few of the neighborhood cats were lounging in a tent. Keith's clothes serving as excellent cushions. Another one was eating out of a can of wet cat food set near where Lance suspected a fire had just been dowsed minutes prior.

It was Blue. The traitor.

"Keith…are you..." Lance tried to put it delicately.

"I've been living out here since I came to town."

"Why?"

Keith rubbed at his face as his cheeks darkened. "Okay, this is the weird part. So…you know…how when we first met. I said that I'd moved here recently and that someone had told me about you? Well…that was a lie."

"No, shit!"

"Let me finish!" Keith grouched, and Lance's mouth snapped shut. "I…I've been looking for you for a long time. Wow! That sounded creepy!"

"Oh really? You mean you didn't mean to make it sound that way?" Lance asked as he took a step back.

"Lance! Just…let me explain!"

"This had better be good." Lance threatened with narrowed eyes as he crossed his arms protectively over his chest.

"I…think I was reincarnated and that, fuck this sounds even crazier when I say it out loud! That I used to be your cat."

Lance's face fell. He gave an unimpressed, "I'm outta here." Before turning around to leave. His arm was snatched, and he ripped it out of Keith's grip. "Leave me alone!"

"Wait! Please, Lance! Don't you remember? You used to call me Keef? When you were little?"

"No! Now stop acting crazy! It's not funny."

"I'm being serious!"

"Fuck, Keith! You really are insane! I can't believe…" he sobbed. "I let you into my life. Shit! My family! My mom! My little sisters!" Lance fell to his knees and tried to fight back the betrayed tears.

He felt Keith approach him tentatively.

"I remember your abuelita." Keith tried quietly. His voice sounding miserable. "She didn't like me very much."

Lance's breath hitched as a spark of his grandma towering over him and the mean look she would get when he would talk about cats.

"How do you know she didn't like cats…did my mom tell you?" He asked miserably.

"No, Lance…she didn't."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No, Lance." He answered even more quietly, and Lance hated the sincerity in his voice. Hated it almost as much as the fact that he wanted so badlyto believe him.

"Anything else you care to bring up?"

He heard Keith kneel behind him before he felt a hesitant hand touch his shoulder, and he hated the fact that he leaned into the warm touch.

"I…remember your old room? That it was blue and that you had a bunch of space stuff. You even had stars that glowed in the dark. I spent many nights staring at them and wondering how they were only visible when your room was dark. I realize now it was just glow in the dark stickers."

The image of his old room tickled Lance's memory and he was flooded with the image of the fish comforter, the cat coloring books. His space curtains. There, on the bed. A gray tabby cat with blue-gray eyes.

So different, and yet, so similar to the ones he felt burning a hole into the back of his head. He turned around to look into those eyes now.

They were so full of love and remorse, a fear of rejection but acceptance of letting Lance go. Lance felt his eyes well up with tears. He believed him.

"You idiot. Why'd you wait 'til now to tell me you used to be my cat?"

"What do you mean?" Keith asked, and Lance gave him a wanting and watery smile.

Lance felt himself pulled into a strong embrace.

"Don't look at me like that." Keith begged from above him.

"Like what?"

"Like you…like you want more than friendship from me. I'm not strong enough to resist…I end up hoping for more."

"You, stupid asshole!" Lance growled before he pulled away from Keith, grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged him closer.

He kept their faces just inches apart for a moment, giving Keith the option to pull away before he leaned forward and caught the other's lips in a hesitant kiss.

Keith melted into him and his lips softened and molded perfectly with Lance's as they both shut their eyes.

They stayed like that for a moment before Lance released him. Their cheeks were both flushed as they gasped for air like they'd just run a mile. Both too inexperienced to realize they could breathe while they shared such chaste kisses.

Lance smiled cheekily as he giggled. "I waited so long to have my first kiss with someone, and it's my cat!"

Keith's face fell, and he grumbled as he began to stand up.

Lance laughed as he tugged the other back down for another kiss. Keith had gasped in surprise, so when their lips met again there was a brief moment where Keith had caught Lance's upper lip with his teeth.

He felt a thrill run through him before the pain registered. He ripped away to rub at his lips to soothe them.

"Oh, shit! Sorry, Lance! Are you okay?" Keith asked as he stood hovering over Lance still sitting on the ground.

Lance waited until the painful throbs died down before he stood and nodded his head.

"Yeah…let's try that again."

"Are you kidding me right now? You haven't even asked me out properly and you're demanding kisses?"

"You're right. Keith, will you go out with me?"

The other snorted. "You're ridiculous."

"Is that a yes?"

"You are insufferable sometimes. You know that?"

"Yes…but that's what you love about me."

Keith shook his head as he turned back to his camp and picked up the last can of cat food. He'd been going into town to pick up some more when Lance had discovered him. He watched Blue lick her chops with a smug look. Like she'd orchestrated the whole thing herself.

"Is that…my fucking house?"

Keith whipped around and spied Lance standing at the edge of the clearing and pointing to what was unmistakably his own house.

Keith shuffled, and Lance knew he was going to try to lie again.

"Oh…I guess that is your house. Isn't it? What a weird and totally random coincidence."

Lance turned around as he shook his head fondly. Past the point of finding Keith's endearing awkwardness weird.

"It's so cute when you try to lie." He replied as he approached the other.

Keith shuffled nervously as Lance stepped into his personal space. "Are you…mad?"

"Furious." Lance answered sarcastically.

Keith's face fell, and the light dimmed behind his eyes, not getting the sarcasm, before Lance grabbed his shoulders and pressed their lips together again.

"Mmm?"

Lance smiled at the small, confused noise Keith had made as he tilted his head, opened his mouth, and tugged on Keith's bottom lip gently.

He felt the gasp and shiver go through the shorter boy before he tried licking at the lip trapped between his teeth.

Keith groaned and pressed closer. His hands gripped into Lance's shirt as he, in turn, caught Lance's lip and tentatively did the same to him.

They both moaned at the sensation before they separated and held each other at arm's length.

"That was really nice!" Keith announced, and Lance nodded as he licked his lips. He watched Keith's eyes dart down to follow the action as he tasted Keith's saliva.

When the other boy copied his actions, he wondered if he could taste Lance's. When a shudder ran down the other boy's body, Lance figured he could.

He smoothed a hand over his shirt to both compose himself and stop the urge to go further. He didn't quite know what he needed to do. What he even could do. He'd have to look it up later…perhaps Keith would join him?

He blushed as he thought about it, before he shook his head. No way was he going to try anything at his house.

"I didn't get to ask before…but what were you doing out so late?"

Keith's question interrupted Lance's mortifying thoughts of his mother, or worse, his siblings walking in on him and Keith getting hot and heavy.

"Oh, yeah! I wrote a letter to Kuro…er. Shiro! I finally got a response!"

"You…what?"

"Yup!" Lance dug a hand into his pocket, quickly finding the envelope folded inside.

He let Keith open it and demanded he read it to him.

"Okay, umm. He says that he doesn't remember anyone named Keith."

Lance nodded. "Because he only knew you as a cat, right?" He paused before he scoffed and shook his head. "I can't believe I said that with such sincerity."

Keith smiled, happy that Lance had decided to believe him when he could have continued to deny his story, before he continued reading aloud.

"He says that the name Shiro does sound familiar though. He's-", Keith gasped and looked at Lance, his eyes wide and panicked.

"What? What did he say?" Lance shouted as he snatched the letter from Keith's weak grip.

Hello…Lance? (I feel like that's your name judging by your email. You didn't sign the letter so…I'm hoping that's right.)

Lance smacked his free hand against his forehead at his carelessness before he continued reading.

I'm afraid I don't know anyone named Keith, however the name 'Shiro' sounds familiar. It's been a well-kept secret that I can't remember anything of my past, so I would like to follow up on this chance to discover more about my past.

I decided to fly out and see this "Keith" in person to see if he can trigger any more of my memories. It will be after my current role is finished. I should inform you that my manager thinks I am crazy, so she will be following along and intends to bring several guards in case you are a crazed fan…her words, not mine.

I hope to see you soon.

Kuro

Lance looked up, the letter shaking in his hands as he turned equally wide eyes to the other boy.

"He's coming." Lance announced quietly before he jumped into the air with a whoop of joy. "I can't believe he's really coming!"

"Lance! Lance!"

"What?"

Keith wrung his hands together nervously. "What if he wants to see my house?"

"What house?"

"Exactly!" Keith exclaimed as he threw his hands up.

"You're right… I've just decided. You're moving in with me."

"What?" Keith felt like his head was spinning from the sudden shift in the conversation.

Lance put his hands on his hips and raised a brow. Keith didn't think Lance would appreciate just how much he looked like his mother in that moment. "I can't believe how stupid you are! You've been living here this whole time. Pack your shit up, and let's go."

"Are you serious? Lance, there's no room at your house for a permanent guest. We had to share a bed last time!"

"So?" Lance waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Was I that terrible in bed?"

"Lance! This is serious!"

"I'm serious!"

"Lance, it's fine. Seriously. I've gotten used to it. I've got company." He gestured to the cats and Lance scoffed. "Water, shelter, and I can get my own food. And there's a nearby laundromat."

"Oh shit! That's why you didn't have that many clothes! Oh man, I feel like shit for allowing you to talk me out of taking you clothes shopping for so long now." Lance mourned.

"Lance, it's okay."

"Keith…it really isn't. I have been a terrible friend. I didn't even realize that you were homeless. For how long?" He tugged at his hair and messed it up. Keith watched him worriedly as the taller boy cursed. "Damn…shit!" Lance inhaled sharply as he thought about what he was going to do next. "Okay… okay." He sighed.

"What's okay?"

"Nothing, Keith. Don't worry about it. Just give me some time. Until then, you will be living with me."

"Lance…"

"No, Keith, get your shit. I am not playing around. Pack it up. Let's go."

Keith watched him for a long moment. He had no doubt Lance would tell his family about where he'd been living. They would probably all show up, pack up everything and take it from him to force him to move in and stop living in the woods.

"Okay, Lance." He agreed quietly, before they both began packing everything up.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **FINALLY! Some actual Klance!**

 **I plan on attempting to draw two scenes from this. A cookie to whoever guesses both correctly first. (Perhaps cookie should be a quick doodle. I need more practice drawing the peeps of Voltron at any rate so...okay.) First person who guesses right gets a quick doodle of their fave character and a theme of their choosing (one word theme please). I'll post a link to the three in the next chapter when I post it, but I will be adding the images to the bottom of this chapter when they are done.**


	11. Are You With Me?

**Chapter 11: Are You With Me?**

 **Notes:**

 **Sorry this one is a bit short (the length of most of my chapters.)**

 **This one is right before a bit of a time skip, so I ended it there. v.v**

 **Art from the chapter before:**

 **Tea Party and Ugly shirt are at my Tumblr: replace * with a .**

 **[** **madame-kiksters*tumblr*com/post/170251280311/scenes-from-keith-the-cat-chapter-10-i-especially ]**

 **(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)**

* * *

Keith had received a warm welcome from the family when Lance explained his living situation, rather, the lack thereof. Lance's mother had scolded him gently for not telling them sooner and received a pat on the shoulder from Lance's dad before he received a nod of encouragement.

Like that, Keith was officially a part of the McClain's household.

That night, Lance whispered to his mother's ear over the children, and so, was loud enough for Keith to hear, that he wanted to speak with her privately.

André was quick to drag him away before Lance's little sisters could grab him.

"So you were living in the woods the whole time?" André asked with bright eyes.

"Uhh, yeah." Keith answered distractedly, he was curious about what Lance was speaking to his mother about, especially when he heard her raise her voice.

"Was it hard?"

Keith turned his attention back to the young boy in front of him as the yelling quieted down. "It was better than living in the desert. At least there's readily available water."

André's eyes grew twice their normal size as he seemed to stare at Keith with a sense of awe. He'd now achieved hero status in the ten-year-old's mind.

It wasn't too much longer before Lance and his mother exited the room. The woman looked upset, and Keith took a step towards her out of concern. She caught his eyes before she approached him and gave him a hug.

He carefully returned it as he gave Lance a confused look.

Lance didn't look at him, but his mother soon scooped him into the hug as well. Keith's face was pressed against Lance's chest and he tried to hide the blush before Lance's mother released them both.

"What's going on?" Keith asked, and Lance simply pulled him along to his room claiming that he needed to talk to him.

Lance tugged Keith inside of their now-shared room and sat Keith on the bed before he paced his bedroom floor.

The older boy stopped in front of Keith so suddenly that the younger almost flinched.

"I've decided you're right. There isn't enough room for us both to live here. So…I'm moving out." He announced, and Keith stood immediately to protest.

"No, Lance! Stay with your family!" Keith stomped his foot and glared. "I'll go back to the desert before I make you do something like this."

Lance raised a brow, and as usual, focused on something other than what Keith wanted him to.

"You lived in the desert?" The taller boy shook his head in disbelief. "Please tell me you had a house there at least!"

"Sort of?"

"Sort of!" Lance yelped.

Keith wrung his hands as he was suddenly put on the defensive. "It was more of a shack…but it had a bathroom! And a living room. Uhmm, sometimes the TV even worked!"

"Unbelievable." Lance sighed with a tired smile before he fixed Keith with a fond look.

Keith felt his brow wrinkle with confusion.

Lance stepped towards him cautiously until he was in Keith's space. "Before I was interrupted." He glared playfully. "When I said I was moving out…I intended to move out and share a place with you."

"What?"

"That is…if you wanted to?" Lance asked hopefully, and Keith felt like his head was going to start spinning from the sudden shift of conversation.

"I…wouldn't your family miss you? Wouldn't you miss them?"

"I can always visit them. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're sick of me by now." Lance chuckled weakly before his throat closed.

"It doesn't seem right to just leave…especially because I know it's because of me."

Lance gave a frustrated glare. "Look. I'm moving out. Regardless of if you stay here, leave, or do whatever. My question is this: are you with me, or not?"

"Lance! This isn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair." Lance answered simply, and Keith flinched back like he'd been burned.

The younger boy had known that for a long time now, but to hear someone like Lance say it to his face…it hurt him.

"Lance…" Keith tried to reason with him one last time.

"I've made up my mind. Now answer."

"I…" Keith stared into Lance's eyes trying to beg him, he met a steely wall of determination behind blue eyes. He bowed his head as he answered. "Okay."

Lance nodded at Keith's answer before he smiled and let out a shaky sigh. "Okay…"

"Lance?"

"Yes, Keith?"

Keith looked up once more and caught Lance's gaze.

"Thank you." He felt the gratitude swell inside his chest, and it nearly brought tears to his eyes. He wasn't usually this emotional. Something about Lance just brought out this side of him. It was oddly comforting to know he could be weak around the other boy.

Lance nodded before he turned away from him and sat in front of his laptop. "It's fine, now let's start looking at listings."

Lance had bookmarked a few local houses and apartments that were within his price range. Which wasn't much.

"I can help pay, Lance." Keith offered gently for the fifth time.

"No, it's fine. You don't have a job, do you?"

"I can always just get one. But, Lance… I wasn't talking about that."

Lance sighed before he spun his chair around slowly to face the shorter boy. "Then what were you talking about?"

"I was talking about the money my parents left behind. How else do you think I was able to live so far out in the desert and manage to find you? Or to afford the necessities while I lived out in the woods? Charity and good will? No. I have money. So quit treating me like I'm some penniless child."

"Keith, that's your parents' money that they left for you." Lance seemed to know without Keith ever having told him, that Keith's parents were dead.

"What better way than to help me find a place to live?"

Lance pouted. "It just doesn't seem right."

"Move over!" Keith demanded as he shoved Lance, and the chair he was sitting in, away from the desk playfully. "I'll buy this place with only my own money."

"Keith!" Lance laughed as he tried not to topple over from the sudden movement. It wasn't often that Keith was playful, so he would be sure to soak it in as much as he could.

"Lance!" Keith yelled in the same tone mockingly, his eyes remained on the screen as he scrolled through the listings.

He settled on a small apartment that was close enough. It would be an hour's drive to Lance's house, but it seemed to be in a decent neighborhood, was affordable, and was closer than other locations.

It was even pet friendly!

He searched for a purchase button and was dismayed when he couldn't find one.

"Lance…how do we buy this place?"

Lance burst out laughing before he realized Keith was serious, then he laughed even harder.

"Lance! It's not funny! How do I buy it?"

Lance only continued to laugh.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Big chapter coming up next!**

 **I hope you all enjoy it!**


	12. Neighbors

**Chapter 12: Neighbors**

 **Notes:**

 **Finally, a decent sized update! Big thank you to Seele_Esser_Deutsch on AO3 for proofreading this!**

 **We are so close to the end, guys.**

* * *

Lance dragged the last box into their new apartment. His mom had brought along the whole family to help load. Keith had driven his motorcycle with Lance sitting behind him all the way there.

The unloading was relatively quick thanks to Keith not having much, and Lance deciding to only bring the essentials.

Blue had safely arrived within her cat carrier in the backseat with Lance's family.

Keith had learned that apartments were rented or leased. He and Lance had talked with the renter and had signed various paperwork before Keith paid the agreed amount.

Luckily, the apartment didn't have too many issues, and the ones it did were simple fixes.

"Take care, you two! And don't be strangers!" Lance's mother ordered. "I expect you to call me every once in a while, at least!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Keith answered dutifully as Lance laughed and hugged his mother close.

"Love you, mama ."

"I love you too, Lancito ." She squeezed him tightly before she did the same to Keith and turned to her children. "Tell them goodbye!"

"Bye, Lance! Bye, Keith!" Fran called as Lisa gave the two boys a hug before her little sister could.

"Bu-bye!" Katherine called as she toddled over and followed her older sisters' example and hugged Lance and Keith around their legs.

André stepped up next and he folded his arms grumpily.

"How come you get to hog him all?" He complained to Lance, and their mother cleared her throat. "Fine! Bye, Lance." He turned to Keith and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Bye, Keith."

"You should hug your brother too." Keith suggested softly. "You never know when you might see someone again."

André gave him a look of surprise before he seemed to make a decision. He nodded and hugged Lance fiercely.

"I love you." Lance confessed quietly as he kneeled down to give his little brother a better hug.

André seemed to melt into his brother's embrace, and Keith felt himself get a little choked up at the scene. So, this was familial love. He'd been so long without it, it seemed too strong to ever forget, and yet, he had somehow forgotten his parents' warmth in his loneliness.

After Lance's family departed, Lance and Keith were left to unpack. Blue hid in her carrier for an hour before she ventured out and began to cautiously explore her new domain. Lance seemed particularly tickled when she began to scratch at the boxes they had.

Once they had unpacked the last box of Lance's things they decided to get fast food for dinner. Grocery shopping could wait just one more day.

They left Blue a fresh bowl of water and her food before heading out.

They stopped by a local burger joint and ordered value meals. As they were eating, Lance sighed.

Keith swallowed the food in his mouth. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just sucks that we live so far from my work. I got to wake up early to make the walk there. Ah, well. It'll be good exercise."

"I could…take you?" Keith offered.

Lance seemed to choke on his fries and the shorter boy lunged across the table to pat his back with concern.

"I'm fine!" Lance coughed.

"You sure?" Keith asked.

"Yeah." Lance sucked down a few gulps of his drink. "Anyways. That would be amazing! I was trying to gasp dramatically." Lance coughed as he explained why he'd choked. "But it backfired."

Keith laughed nervously, satisfied that Lance was alright. "Good. Then we should get you a helmet and a jacket."

"Isn't my hoodie enough?"

"I don't know…weren't you cold on our journey to the apartment?"

"Well…not really. Not when I was clinging to my man's nice, warm back."

Keith sputtered and almost inhaled his drink. "Lance!"

"What?" The taller boy asked coyly. "Your back is nice and warm."

Keith blushed furiously, and Lance playfully nudged the shorter boy's foot under the table.

"Relax. No one's gonna say anything."

"It's not that!" Keith whispered furiously. "It's embarrassing!" His cheeks seemed to redden further.

"What…that I called you my man?"

"Yes!" Keith hissed, his blush reaching his ears. Lance thought it was unbearably cute. "How would you like it if I called you…uh," Keith looked around searchingly before he gave up with a glare. "…I can't think of anything right now! But I will!"

"I'd love anything you could come up with, puddin' pop." Lance was having entirely too much fun.

Keith didn't reply, but he remained deep in thought the remainder of dinner.

It was as they were paying that Keith seemed to reach a decision. When the server left, he turned to Lance with a victorious smirk.

"I've got it! How would you feel if I started calling you honey?"

Lance's eyes widened impossibly, and his brows lifted towards his hairline before his cheeks darkened a bit and he looked down and away from Keith.

"See? It's embarrassing."

Lance mumbled his response and Keith leaned forward to hear him better as he asked Lance to repeat himself.

" I said, I like it." Lance admitted.

Before Keith could kickstart his brain to come up with a response, Lance stood from the table and strutted out the door. It was as the door closed behind him that Keith managed to get his legs under him to follow.

"Lance, I-" Keith tried, but he was interrupted by his boyfriend.

"So, are we going to get me a helmet? Or what?"

Keith paused before he smiled and shook his head. He seated himself and, before he turned on the ignition, he turned back to Lance. "Don't forget, we need to get you a jacket too, honey."

He felt Lance smack his shoulder and Keith laughed as he finally started the engine.

The store trip wasn't that eventful. Lance was still quietly reeling from how much he liked Keith calling him honey to fill the silence like he normally did.

They got him a helmet similar to Keith's, since Lance had grown fond of it, although, Keith did notice Lance eyeing a helmet that appeared to have cat ears on the top, but it was ridiculously expensive. Keith also bought Lance a jacket that would help keep him warm and was big enough he could put it on over the hoodie he always seemed to wear.

They were going back up to their apartment when they noticed a familiar face. The large, yellow tom cat that had first greeted Keith so long ago was digging at their door.

"Hey, buddy. What's going on?" Keith asked as he scooped the cat up. It struggled a bit in his arms before going lax.

Keith smiled as he scratched the cat's chin and Lance ran a hand down the cat's back affectionately before a large man charged at them.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing to my cat?"

The couple looked up questioningly before Keith's eyes widened. "Oh! No! We weren't trying to do anything to him. He's just sort've become a friend of mine."

He gently set the cat down, and it looked at the newcomer for a moment before it meowed and went back to pawing at the door.

Blue's purrs could be heard through the wood.

The stranger released a gusty sigh. "Oh, thank goodness !" He sagged with relief. "I thought you guys were trying to steal Fluffy."

The man walked over and picked his cat up, who began to purr instantly in his arms and butt his head under his chin.

He smiled at the cat and pet its head before looking up with warm, brown eyes. "Name's Hunk. I live in the apartment just to the left of this one. You guys must be my new neighbors."

"Lance, and this is my man, Keith."

"Is that like a…like, 'aww my dude' or like 'this is my partner' kinda man?" Hunk asked a little flustered, it was clear he was afraid he'd offended them.

Keith had half a mind to tell this Hunk it was none of his business, but Lance stepped in again.

He placed a tan hand on Keith's far shoulder and tugged him close to his side. "We're partners. Yes. Is that going to be a problem?" Keith heard Lance dip into a warning tone he'd only ever heard from his mother.

Hunk's eyes widened, and he waved his free hand wildly in defense, the couple were in awe that Fluffy didn't budge at all. "Of course not! I was just curious and sometimes I spaz and don't know what to say and I end up saying things that are not right and oh no I'm rambling so I'm going to stop now."

Keith could tell that Hunk had to physically force himself to stop and he was glad that when he panicked it was quietly.

Lance laughed as he squeezed Keith's shoulder affectionately. "It's fine. I ramble a lot too when I'm nervous. No harm done."

Hunk bowed his head a bit with a grateful smile before he straightened and offered a hand. "At any rate, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Lance answered as he took Hunk's hand. Lance nudged the shoulder he was holding to indicate Keith should also shake their new neighbor's hand.

Keith gave Lance a dirty look. He was going to shake Hunk's hand anyways . He rolled his eyes before he returned Hunk's gesture with a nod.

When they were done with the exchange, Hunk straightened and returned to petting the cat in his arms. "So, have you met anyone else?"

Lance shook his head and Hunk looked up contemplatively.

"Well, you met me. on the other side of you guys is the Holts. Fair warning, if you make too much noise during quiet hours, Pidge will not hesitate to knock down your door."

Keith's brow furrowed. "Quiet hours?"

Hunk nodded with a grave look on his face. "Yes, the Holts work from out of their apartment so they've asked everyone to keep it down between eleven at night until five in the morning. The landlord agreed that was reasonable… especially because they're willing to fix anything that breaks, free of charge, for the trouble."

"Who are these Holts?" Keith was already starting to not like them. Not that he and Lance were loud, well…Keith wasn't, and Lance wasn't too bad, but something didn't sit right with him about it.

Hunk looked to his right at the window of the apartment he was standing in front of.

"You can ask them yourself?" He answered with a chuckle.

The couple turned towards the window and found people their age squeezed into the window together as they looked outside. They glared at Hunk before the girl slid the window open and talked through the screen.

"Hunk, that was bullshit and you know it! What do you think of us? Tell them! I wanna know too!"

"Nope! Sorry, Pidge. I gotta bring Fluffy back inside anyways." He shuffled past Keith and Lance with a laugh as Pidge yelled after him and Matt tried to stop her from rushing outside in her pajamas.

Pajamas? At this hour? Keith wondered. Then again. It was five in the afternoon.

Hunk paused at his door and turned back to them. "I'm going to grab as many people as I can, and we can have a cookout sometime. Or a potluck! Ohh, that would be so good!" Hunk waved at them once more with his free hand. "I'll get everything ready and report back."

Before they could reply, Hunk shut the door to his apartment.

Pidge fixed them with a glare. Her brother pushed his glasses up his nose. "So, you guys are the new neighbors."

Keith stiffened and shifted in front of Lance. "Yes. You guys are the Holts."

The girl smirked. "Pidge."

"Matt." The boy answered before reaching out to them, only to be stopped by the window screen.

"Nice to meet you, we're-"

"Lance and Keith. We saw. We also know you know about the quiet hours thing. We hope to continue the trend of having respectful neighbors." Pidge warned.

Keith narrowed his eyes and stepped forward challengingly before Lance pulled him back and smiled.

"Of course! We'll be the best neighbors ever! You won't hear a peep from us during quiet hours." He was opening the door as he said this and was pulling a reluctant Keith inside. Careful to make sure Blue didn't run out. "It was nice meeting you!"

He shut the door and sighed before smiling down at Keith.

"Why did you let her talk to us that way?"

Lance shrugged. "We're not going to be making too much noise at that time anyways. I do have work, and you can barely stay up past ten."

"That's not true!" Keith argued petulantly and crossed his arms with a scowl. "I stay up late a lot!"

"Oh…and what do you do, Mr. Night Owl."

Keith paused a long moment as his cheeks reddened. "Why does it matter what I'm doing!"

He stomped off into the bedroom and flicked on the light. He got rid of his jeans and grabbed a pair of sweatpants. He heard the door frame creak and turned to find Lance leaned against it watching him.

"Hunk seemed nice. I love his cat."

Keith raised a brow. "Really?"

Lance shrugged as he stepped inside and changed his clothes to something comfier as well. "What am I supposed to talk about? We've spent all day together!"

Keith sat on the bed. "I don't know. What do you think about the new place?"

"I think I like it as much as I knew I would when we agreed to live here." Lance playfully.

Keith watched as Lance headed for their door and locked it before heading to the small living area. He heard the television running quietly before he got up and shuffled into the living room.

He found Lance leaned back on the couch, Blue kneading his thighs as she prepared to lay down. Keith felt his heart swell with affection before he grabbed a folded blanket off their bed and sat down next to Lance.

"Aww, you brought me a blanket."

"Correction. I brought us a blanket."

Lance raised a brow as he turned his head to look down at Keith snuggled up beside him. "Blue's not going to like it." He warned.

Keith shrugged before he covered both of their laps with the blanket, and Blue in the process. She paused in her kneading before she crawled out of the blanket and back onto Lance's lap to resume her ritual.

"Looks like she doesn't mind it too much." Keith pointed out.

He felt Lance slip an arm around his shoulders before he felt a kiss pressed into his hair. "You're lucky she loves me so much."

Keith snorted. "I think you're forgetting who she came checking up on in the woods all those days."

Lance laughed, and it jostled Keith a bit, but it served to only bring a smile to his lips.

"This is nice." Lance sighed happily.

Keith wasn't sure if he was talking about their relationship, their new apartment, or both, but he found himself agreeing either way.

Keith woke up when Lance did and made them both coffee while Lance got ready. They still didn't have any groceries yet, so Keith had promised last night before bed to stop somewhere and get Lance some breakfast. He scooped the litter, made sure Blue had food and water, before he allowed himself to sit down and enjoy his warm beverage.

Lance exited their room ready for work and Keith pushed his mug towards him.

"Thanks." Lance's voice was still a little hoarse from sleep and not having woken up his vocal chords.

Keith nodded tiredly.

They pulled on their shoes and headed outside. The sun was barely over the horizon.

They heard the jingle of keys and turned to find Hunk locking his apartment with a cheery hum, when he faced them he smiled brightly.

"Lance, Keith! I didn't know you guys would be up this early. I made sure to be extra quiet when I got ready." He laughed.

The couple smiled at him and Lance managed to muster some energy to be friendly in return. "You get up like this all the time?"

"Yeah, I work at a bakery down the road. I'm in charge of prep, so I go in way before opening to get baking."

Keith thought Hunk was way too chipper in the mornings for any normal human. He barely felt he was awake enough to drive safely.

Hunk's phone chimed, and his eyes widened. "Sorry guys. Gotta get going! See you later!"

"Don't worry. We gotta go too. Later, Hunk!"

Keith waved politely, he wasn't completely devoid of manners, as they allowed Hunk to speed walk ahead of them and down the stairs.

They piled onto Keith's motorcycle and headed for the first place open. They ordered something quick and scarfed it down.

"I can't wait to get some real food. All this grease is killing me."

Keith didn't comment because during much of his search for Lance he hadn't had the best diet. Skipping quite a few meals and only ever stopping to eat diner food when he felt he was going to faint.

He chose to nod instead.

They finished in record time before going down the road again. Keith dropped Lance off. After he'd tucked Lance's helmet in the compartment, he pulled his off.

"You want me to bring you lunch?"

Lance looked up before shaking his head. "I'll probably just eat at a café or something. You going to the store today? Or wait until after my shift?"

Keith shook his head. "I can go by myself. Was there anything in particular you wanted me to get?"

Lance looked up as he thought. He hummed before he smiled. "There is one thing."

"What?" Keith asked as he readied his brain to remember what Lance wanted.

He felt Lance kiss his cheek and he smiled fondly before he gave him one in return.

"See you later, honey."

Lance sputtered, and Keith laughed as he put his helmet back on.

He drove off before Lance recovered.

He lugged the groceries up the stairs in one trip. It was only the essentials, nothing too fancy. Eggs, milk, potatoes, rice, and a few spices he knew Lance liked and that he thought tasted good. He bought the largest container of garlic powder he could find, knowing that was a favorite.

He was straightening up their kitchen for more organization when he came across the letter from Shiro again. His eyes widened as he found some stationary to write a response so Shiro would have their current address. Keith would have to ask Lance when he got home if Shiro had contacted him through his email yet.

When Lance came home, they checked and found an email in the Spam folder. Lance was particularly offended it had treated his favorite actor's email with such disrespect.

It was mostly just Shiro informing them that the address used to email the one they were reading was his preferred email.

"I think we should give him our new address."

Lance nodded and sent the information. Angrily removing the Spam status from Shiro's email after he was done.

After a half hour, they received a response.

Hey,

Thanks for the address, that would have been awkward to show up at your old place and bother strangers. I actually just got word yesterday that I have a month to myself. I can't tell you the details, but let's just say someone took the saying "break a leg" to a literal degree (they're okay, in case you were wondering).

So, I will be able to show up between 3/1 to 3/21. I only intend to stay a few days, of course. I would hate to impose. Especially since my manager is coming and the security team.

Please send me a preferred window and I will try my best to be there.

-Kuro

Keith and Lance sat in front of the computer, slack-jawed. They had been excited to see the man, for different reasons, but to have it even more solidly in place was such a foreign feeling.

"W-when do you think Shiro should come over?" Keith asked when he'd finally managed to function again.

Lance gave him a scandalized look. "Well obviously when I don't have work! I want to spend time with Kuro, I mean Shiro, too!"

Keith laughed and nodded. "Okay, okay."

"Let me check my schedule." Lance opened up his calendar and scrolled through March to find the longest break in his schedule. "Okay, I have these three days off. The last day is the twenty-first so it might be pushing it, but at least I will get to see him off."

Lance sent an email answering Shiro's question and when he was done, he leaned back with a smile.

Keith was going to meet Shiro again.


End file.
